Singing In The Rainbow Choir
Scandinavian newspaper Helsingin Sanomat has a lovely profile of choir director, musician, and modern Pagan Veera Voima.
Veera Voima (photo by Pentti Koskinen)
Voima leads Finland’s Rainbow Choir. The choir is made up of immigrants to Finland who sing traditional music from their countries of origin. The choir is a way to introduce these cultures to a Finnish audience and help integrate the immigrants into Finnish life.
“For those who have moved here, to a foreign environment, it is an enormously big deal to get to teach their songs to others. The pride and joy in one??s own culture can be heard by the listeners” – Veera Voima
In addition to the Rainbow Choir (organized by the Kassandra group), Voima is also the conductor of folk music group Hytkyt and leader of the trio Suo which does traditional rune-singing.
“The Kalevala-esque rune singing, old myths, and especially incantations are the biggest thing in the world for me. They represent the oldest culture that has been preserved in Finland. A definite roots thing” – Veera Voima
Suo will be touring the Eastern EU member states next year performing the Finnish rune singing. You can download two songs by Suo at their website “Ohtoseni” (the bear spell) and “Saunaloitsu” (the healing words used in a sauna).
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