In the Folk Singing Course, participants learn a variety of songs from Finland and the Finno-Ugric region. In a joyful and encouraging atmosphere, we explore different vocal techniques that are needed when singing folk songs in all their diversity. The course also includes an introduction to vocal physiology and exercises that support each participant’s personal vocal technique. During the course, we will prepare a performance for the final concert.

Sirkka Kosonen — singer, vocal artist, folk musician, and Doctor of Music

I sing, compose, arrange, conduct a choir, play the accordion and small kanteles, research, and teach. I yodel, growl, creak, scrape, shimmer, and write. All of these elements make up my musicianship. But without improvisation and the continual challenge of my folk-singer identity in ensembles of different styles, I would feel incomplete. All this — and the many projects that often happen simultaneously — make me who I am. My natural, open curiosity about all kinds of vocal expression keeps me endlessly fascinated.

Since 1998, I have thrown myself into various improvisation-based projects and performed in Finland and abroad at folk music and jazz festivals. I conduct the Hytkyt Choir in Kerava, for which I arrange and compose folk-song material. We have also traveled to learn from other folk singers in Ladoga Karelia, Hungary, France, Portugal, Estonia, Latvia, Bulgaria, Udmurtia, and the Mari Republic. After a twenty-year break, I returned to teaching at the Savonlinna Music Institute. I teach at the University of the Arts, the music institute, and the community college, and I also offer private lessons in singing and vocal technique.