Maria Kalaniemi

Maria Kalaniemi trained being a classical accordion participant for 11 years, but her greatest music success offers come through her mastery from the folk customs of Finland. Furthermore to three unforgettable single albums, Kalaniemi continues to be necessary to recordings and shows by such top-ranked Finnish folk organizations as Niekku, Aldargaz, the Helsinki Melodeon Women Quintet, and Zeta Bop. Playing the five-row switch accordion from age eight, Kalaniemi has already established an illustrious profession. As the champion of the exclusive Golden Accordion honor, she documented her debut recording, Kultaisen Harmonikan Voittaja, in 1983. Released from the Accordion Institute of Ikaalinen, the recording showcased Kalaniemi’s skills for interpreting traditional Finnish dance music. Searching for the folk music division from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Kalaniemi continuing to improve her musical abilities. Furthermore to learning traditional music, she required classes in music theory, improvisation, and overall performance. As the accordion continued to be her prime device, she learned to try out mandolin, violin, and kantele, a zither-like device. Together with additional students, Kalaniemi created a music group, Niekku. An all-woman group, apart from violinist Arto Jarvela, later on of JPP, Niekku brought a modern vision to the original music of Finland and became market leaders of the brand new Finnish Folk motion. Although she briefly analyzed with accordionist Marcel Azzola in France, Kalaniemi came back to comprehensive her studies on the Sibelius Academy. Graduating in 1990, she started tinkering with the classical-oriented technique of using her remaining hand to generate free-bass melodies. Acquiring two years to understand, the technique offered new composition, set up, and performance options. Kalaniemi released her 1st recording as a specialist musician, a self-titled assortment of traditional Finnish and Swedish folk music, polkas, tangos, and unique compositions, within the Finnish Olarin Musiikii label in 1992. The recording was consequently reissued in america within the Xenophile label and, later on, within the Finlandia Innovators Series label. Along with JPP, Kalaniemi toured america using the Finnish Fever tour in 1994. The next yr, she formed a fresh music group, Aldargaz, with Arto Jarvela and pianist Timo Alakotila of JPP, mandolinist Petri Hakla, guitarist Olli Varis, and bassist Tapani Varis. The group’s debut recording, Iho, released in Finland in July 1995, was reissued by Ryko/Hannibal 2 yrs later on. In 1996, the music group became the 1st folk group to get the Reward of Finland, granted from the Minister of Education for “quality in music.” At exactly the same time, Kalaniemi started collaborating with a multitude of musicians including cultural/jazz fusion music group Zeta Bob and Finnish vocalist Katri Helena. As well as Riitta Kossi of Varttina she shaped the Helsinki Melodeon Girls Quintet. In 1996 she became among five accordionists from five different countries to comprise the Accordion Tribe, who strike the street that yr and 2 yrs afterwards released an eponymous debut record recorded go on that tour. Kalaniemi continued to be active in 1997. Furthermore to finding a three-year artist’s offer in the Finnish condition, she toured Sweden double and collaborated with vocalist/professional/flutist Vesa-Matti Loiri, playing on his record Rurja and touring Finland as an associate of his music group. The following calendar year, she arranged and performed on the Harmonikka Accordion Festival and continuing to explore an eclectic selection of musical configurations. As well as Olli Varis, she produced an organization, Andetagen, with accordionists Lars Hollmer (an Accordion Tribe member) and Kimmo Pohjonen, and documented a vocal improvisation record, Pidot, with Heikki Laitinen and Anna-Kaisa Liedes. In January 1999, Kalaniemi performed on the Celtic Connection Celebration in Glasgow, along with Sharon Shannon of Ireland and Karen Tweed of Britain, which same month noticed the discharge of the next Aldargaz record, Ahma. She also participated within a French creation of Prokofiev’s Peter as well as the Wolf that calendar year. The brand new millennium continuing to create many carrying out and recording possibilities for Kalaniemi. In 2001 two collaborative albums had been released, Ilmajousi-Luftstråk (with Swedish fiddler Sven Ahlbäck and nyckelharpa participant Johan Hedin, who with Kalaniemi perform as the Luftstråk trio) and Ambra (with JPP/Aldargaz collaborator Timo Alakotila). The 2000s also noticed the discharge of two even more Accordion Tribe albums, Ocean of Reeds (2002) and Lunghorn Twist (2006), both documented in the studio room. The Maria Kalaniemi Trio (Kalaniemi, Alakotila, and Aldargaz guitarist Varis) performed two concerts in Tokyo in 2001, and a documenting through the group’s appearance, Tokyo Concert, found its way to 2004. That same yr, the Kalaniemi single recording Niskavuoren Nuori Emäntä, comprising both fresh and previously music useful for a theatre creation, premiered. With many of these group recordings so far in the decade, Kalaniemi had taken a different approach with her 2006 record Bellow Poetry, which discovered the accordionist executing unaccompanied on basically two tracks. Nevertheless, two years afterwards she was back again as collaborator on Siska, another record with the Luftstråk group also offering Ahlbäck and Hedin. In nov 2010 Kalaniemi came back with another single recording, Vilda Rosor (Crazy Roses), this time around leading an organization offering varied instrumentation (performed by earlier collaborators while others); the recording included traditional Finnish and Swedish folk tracks, a fresh Kalaniemi structure, and two items from the past due Swedish accordionist/composer Hollmer. Vilda Rosor moved into the Globe Music Charts European countries at number 2 and continued to be in the WMCE TOP for four weeks.