Josh Doughty has been playing the kora since the age of 8 and was a student of the world-renowned Toumani Diabaté (Mali). Josh is a virtuosic kora artist who collaborates with various musicians, performs, and teaches kora playing worldwide. Josh has, among other things, taught kora courses at the Basel Music Academy regularly for several years. In Kuhmo, he is teaching at the kora course for the second time.

Ilkka Heinonen is a Helsinki-based musician and composer specialized in folk and world music, whose instruments include the jouhikko, double bass, violone, and viola da gamba, with a passion for early music. As a pioneer in jouhikko playing, Heinonen has sought to expand the possibilities of the instrument by drawing influences from European jazz, Renaissance music, and Karelian jouhikko music. In addition to ensembles influenced by European folk music cultures, Heinonen has performed as a soloist and in orchestras in contemporary and early music concerts and projects. Heinonen is finalizing his artistic doctoral degree on the expressive possibilities of the jouhikko in the MuTri doctoral program at the Sibelius Academy.