Maija Kauhanen is an artist who perfectly represents contemporary Nordic music: she remains true to tradition – that is knowledgeable and respectful of heritage – yet is full of youth and inventiveness, which expresses itself in a stimulating revitalisation of this tradition. Maija plays the Saarijärvi kantele zither, Finland’s emblematic instrument, according to the technique of yester year, but she combines this with percussion and dashes of ‘contemporary music’. A number of her texts, whether formal or personal, celebrate and defend the feminine condition with conviction, which, today as in time gone by, is often arduous. A type of struggle…. through poetry. A true orchestra-woman, she mixes polyrhythms and extraordinary sound layers of diverse styles and repertoires: Maija brings a theatrical dimension to her practice. 

Maija Kauhanen : kantele (zither)

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Maija Kauhanen won the prestigious International Solo Competition of Kantele in Helsinki in 2011 and, during the course of the same year, she shared the second prize of 11 Degrees North Competition in Salen, Sweden. She is also a member of several respected ‘world music’ ensembles such as Okra Playground (Finland), and the lead singer of the popular Finnish pop group Malmö. In 2017, Maija won the Critics’ prize, and was selected by the Finnish Critics’ Association as ‘the best breakthrough artist of the year’.

Ilkka Ilkka Heinonen et Maija Kauhanen come together at the end of the concert to play as a duo – a world first!