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Vladimir Shafranov Trio featuring Putter Smith and Lena Bloch
Vladimir Shafranov, a multinational jazz pianist based in the Aland islands, brought Lena Bloch on saxophone and Putter Smith on bass to the intimate salon-like atmosphere of the Salmagundi Club last week.
Vladimir Shafranov was educated in Leningrad Conservatory on violin and piano. Already as a teenager he began playing jazz at the local scene,much to dismay of his teachers. He emigrated to Israel in 1973 and then to Finland in 1974.
While in Finland he was one of the most in demand pianist especially accompanying visiting Americans. Greatly encouraged by many of them to move to New York he did so in 1983 and was very active in Manhattan Jazz Scene playing at clubs such as Bradley’s, Blue Note, Village Vanguard,Village Gate among others. He was a duo partner w. bassists like Ron Carter,Red Mitchell,George Mraz and Buster Williams, led trios with Ron Carter-Al Foster, Rufus Reid-Victor Lewis, George Mraz-Albert “Tootie” Heath to name but a few.
He also played with many top soloists such as Freddie Hubbard, Dizzy Gillespie,Art Farmer, Clifford Jordan,George Coleman, Pepper Adams and accompanied singers such as Carmen McRae,Ernestine Anderson, Etta Jones and Jimmy Scott. Since 1998 he and his family settled on Åland Islands and has become one of best-selling jazz pianists in Japan having released 11 CD’s and DVD. His latest release is “I’ll Close My Eyes”(2010) featuring Jesper Lundgaard on bass.
These seasoned musicians drew a respectable audience who listened attentively and took it all in with pleasure. Several of our performers have noted that our audiences tend to be serious listeners - no talking and clinking of glasses in the background! We hope to hear them again soon.
A pleasant surprise was Shafranov inviting his friend, jazz singer Jeannine Otis, from the audience to participate in two songs towards the end of the program!
Emma Larsson - Sami Linna Jazz Duo at Finland Center
Emma Larsson and Sami Linna drew a sold-out crowd at the Salmagundi Club for their performance of Emma's own songs, smooth jazz classics and some bossa nova. Emma commented afterwards "the audience was so respectful - they actually listened!" - which was, of course, because this was a stellar performance with lots of little nuances that were heard easily in the cozy atmosphere - the bar at the venerable old artist club in Greenwich Village. Nobody wanted to leave...come back again, Emma and Sami!
FCF & Arctic Cirle fashion event
FCF and Arctic Circle Finns of New York (a Meetup group) organized a private event for members at the Nygard fashion store at Broadway and 40th St on December 8. Guests were treated to wine and hors doeuvres and some were invited to participate in a short modeling session. Liisa Nygard Johnson, the sister of Peter Nygard — a Canadian Finn who created the successful fashion empire — read excerpts from a recently published biography of their mother, Hilkka.
Finland Center Christmas Party with Johanna Telander
Johanna Telander brought a 4-member band with her for the Christmas Party at the Salmagundi Club. The audience of Finns and Friends of FInland enjoyed both Johanna's own compositions as well as traditional Finnish Christmas songs by request from the audience, participating as best they could. The GLOGG prepared by the club was a perfect accompaniment!
TRADITIONAL FINNISH CHRISTMAS BAZAAR AND CAROLS
Volunteers Niina Sääskilahti and Enni Haapanen take a turn selling gifts and home baked goods at the Finnish School bazaar.
The bazaar , organized at the Finnish church, traditionally takes place on the same day as the "Kauneimmat joululaulut" (Most beautiful Christmas songs) service. Both events bring together Finns in New York for a special day, which also raises money for all the organizations involved. For more about the event, see our BLOG.
New York Marathon
NY marathon tunnelmaa!
Jazz: Esa Pietilä 4 Streams Quartet
On a night when most New Yorkers stayed indoors, some 50 Finns and other Scandinavians ventured out, undaunted, in the rain and sleet to the Norwegian Seamen's Church. Esa Pietila's 4 Streams Quartet offered some of the best high-class jazz we have heard in a long time, an event co-sponsored by Finland Center Foundation and the American Scandinavian Society. The quartet, consisting of Esa Pietilä on tenor saxophone, Iro Haarla on piano, Uffe Krokfors on bass and Markku Ounaskari on drums, trolled up original compositions which ranged from the delicate to the vibrant and kept their audience rapt. The intimate setting of the Norwegian Seamen's Church, without the clatter of glasses usually heard in a bar, helped us really appreciate the music. Nordic Breads and Valio provided Finnish rye bread and cheese for the reception afterwards. The group continued to a jazz festival in Quebec, and we hope to have them back in New York soon.
Classical Violin Concert with Vilma Perkiömäki
Vilma Perkiomaki is a young but already accomplished violinist graduating soon from the prestigious Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. She was accompanied by Riko Higuma, a seasoned pianist with her own impressive resume, currently teaching at the Manhattan School of Music. The pair gave a nuanced performance of compositions by Bach, Brahms, Glazunov and Sarasate at the Salmagundi Club to a very appreciative audience. As "the sugar on the bottom" we got to hear an encore, recognized by the Finns in the audience as Eero Jarnefelt's Kehtolaulu (Lullaby).
FCF presents: Finnish folk music group KAIVAMA
KAIVAMA is a talented new duo consisting of Sara Pajunen, violin, and Jonathan Rundman, guitar, piano and harmonium....(yes, check out that funny looking box in the photo! if you are old enough, you remember those things in the classroom of your school in Finland, which the teacher would play to accompany the class in hymn-singing!). The duo, on an East Coast tour from their respective homes in Michigan and Minnesota, entertained a roomful of folk music fans in the parlor of the Salmagundi Club on Thursday, Sept. 9. Kaivama takes its name from the Finnish verb KAIVAA (to dig, excavate, explore) and that is what they do with their music - exploring their roots - both members of the duo are 75% Finnish. Jonathan Rundman is actually a rock musician, and Sara Pajunen a classically trained violinist; the combination of the two has a vibrant result: they take old tunes and give them new interpretations as well as playing new pieces by current folk music composers such as Arto Jarvela. They also presented some of their own compositions with strong folk music influence. Many feet were tapping in response to the catchy tunes and rhythms of polkka, polska, and schottis (jenkka) - we definitely want them back, and perhaps next time we will roll away the carpet and take a few steps!
Check back soon for a link to a videoclip of the concert!
Miesten vuoro
PBS sponosred a free community screening of Steam of Life (Miesten vuoro), an acclaimed documentary about Finnish men in the sauna. The film had an appreciative audience at the Salmagundi Club, but for those of you who didn't make it, it can still be viewed online HERE.
Heikki Sarmanto
at Salmagundi Club
Finnish jazz legend, pianist and composer Heikki Sarmanto, entertained us at the Salmagundi Club with new and old pieces, including wonderfully virtuosic improvisations of classical Finnish tunes by Kuula, Backman and Ehrstrom. A friend and collaborator in the audience, vocalist Jeannnine Otis, jumped in at the encore at the audience's request — a special treat!
Sandy Hook Beach Trip
Salmagundi Club intern Josephine Mickelsson was easy to spot at Sandy Hook beach! Highly recommended for a quick day trip from NYC via ferry.
Friends of New York
"Friends of New York" met new and old friends at the Jailyard terrace and listened to almost- New Yorker Heidi Lehmuskumpu sang lovely bossanova with Brazilian guitarist Fabio de Oliveira.
Anatoli Panchoshny, bass with Kalle Toivio, piano
The talented Anatolig Panchoshny has over twenty-five years experience as a concert soloist of Moscow Philharmonic covering numerous stages of Moscow and surroundings — from Baltics to Siberia. He currently teaches voice in New York City. His rich bass voice was magnificent to hear on Saturday, June 18 at the Salmagundi Club in New York. The program included many instantly recognizable songs and opera arias. Although he stumbled for a moment at the beginning of W.A.Mozart's Aria Leporello from opera "Don Giovanni", apparently not recalling the first words in Italian, he made up for it by repeating the piece in Russian! He seemed most at home, naturally, with the songs in his native language, P.Tchaikovsky's "It was in early spring" and "At the ball", and S.Rachmaninoff' "Morning" and "Spring's waters", and the well-known traditional Russian song "Song of the Volga Boatmen", which he performed as an added-on treat. Finland Center's Music Director Kalle Toivio accompanied smoothly as usual.
Leena Lehtolainen
Acclaimed mystery writer, Leena Lehtolainen,visited our Book Club on Monday, June 13. The club discussed her novel "Väärän jäljillä" .
Afterwards a small dinner party was held at a nearby French bistro. Book club members discussed various topics, including one often featured in her novels: sexual violence against women and cultural differences in reactions to it.
Lauri Sallinen, clarinet with Bradley Burgess, piano
Last Saturday, Lauri Sallinen, accomplished clarinetist completing his year at the Manhattan School of Music, gave an excellent perfomance at a concert held at the Salmagundi Club. He was accompanied by Bradley Burgess, also from the MSM, on piano. The audience enjoyed the well-selected program, consisting of Carl Maria von Weber's Gran Duo in three movements, Alban Berg's 4 stucke - very modern sounding, eerily haunting tunes; and Johannes Brahms' Sonata No. 1 for clarinet and piano, played with nuanced emotion and impeccable precision.
A lovely, refreshing stop on a beautiful spring afternoon in the city!
Mariko
Mariko, an established Finnish singer with a career of 11 years, visited the Salmagundi club on Wednesday night and proved to be a versatile artist. Over 40 fans turned out to enjoy the evening, which consisted of blues/jazz standards, performed with excellent accompaniment by the Bumblebees.
Mariko has been the lead singer of a hip hop/pop band
Kwan since 2000. The band has released 4 albums with sales up to double platinum in Finland. In 2007 she took part and won Dancing With The Stars Finland. In 2008 she released her first solo album, Fabulous Tonight, a 80's disco influenced popfest. Alongside of music she has been performing in musicals such as Spring Awakening and West Side Story.
Lately she has been in and out of New York working on new songs and falling in love with the City.
Madetoja Music High School Girls Choir
The Madetoja Music High Shool Girls Choir gave an excellent performance at the Finn Church. The girls moved the audience with a great choice of songs and the program ending with the Finlandia hymn. The choir is now off to Chicago where they will give an another performance before heading back to Finland.
Finland Center Foundation's Annual Meeting
Our Annual Meeting 2011 was held at Salmagundi Club on 28th of March. We are happy to announce our new Board of Directors:
Jaana Rehnström, President
Katariina Forsberg, Secretary
Ceridwen Koski, Treasurer
Marko Albrecht
Laura Palotie
Kristina Preussner
Henrik Tala
Kalle Toivio
Thomas Riggs
Also our new wonderful promotional video was premiered and is now viewable in FC's Youtube channel.
At the reception afterwards, Permanent Representative of Finland to the UN, Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen gave us an interesting view of "Reflections on World Affairs". The reception was followed by a violin concert with talented young violinist Kukkamari Grondahl and pianist Tatiana Goncharova.
Female Artist Club
The last show of Female Artist Club series represented fabulous Heidi Lehmuskumpu & Michael K. Howell. Salmagundi's bar was packed as Friends of Finland came to see Heidi's performance. The night was a big success ending with cheering applause.
After six amazing performances of voice talent, we got a great view of Finnish female performers in different genres. Finland Center wants to thank everyone who took part in celebrating our talented female vocalists in NYC NYC and supported our fast growing community. See you soon again!
Johanna Telander
It was a great pleasure to enjoy Johanna Telander performing at Finland Center on 3/9, check out the pics from Finland Center's Facebook page.
»MORE
Sara Nurmi
See and hear lovely Sara Nurmi performing at Finland Center on 3/3
»MORE
Emma Larsson
Emma Larsson,a Swedish jazz singer educated at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, drew a full house at the Salmagundi bar. She performed some old classics as well as some of the tunes from her new album 'Let it Go". The respected jazz magazine All about jazz says it well;" Larsson represents a new class of vocalists who are pushing the limits of jazz vocals to the edge of post bop conventional wisdom into a realm not otherwise traveled." The third performer in our series of Female Vocal Talent, Emma got the audience's attention and appreciation. She was accompanied by expert guitarist Shan Kenner.
Female Artist Club Series
Paula Jaakkola and Natasha Kole performed for a standing room- only crowd at the intimate bar of the Salmagundi Club on Feb 16.
Female Artist Club Series opening was a success
Finland Center hosts a new club series of female voice talent and our first event together with the Arctic Circle Meetup Groupwas a huge success! First club evening gathered together a crowded room of Finns to enjoy special Finnish Menu & drinks together. Lovely performer Jaana Kantola was cheered with an encore with loud applauses.
Check out the party photos from Finland Center's Facebook page. During February and March you will have a chance to see artists, get together and meet new people. Come to practice your Finnish and connect with other Friends of Finland!
Viktoriya Papayani, piano recital
On January 29, we had the pleasure of hearing Viktoriya Papayani present a varied and interesting program at the Salmagundi Club. As she did at last year's concert, Ms. Papayani introduced each piece with brief historical background commentary. This informal style is well suited for the intimate atmosphere of the gallery space at the club, which has excellent acoustics (but unfortunately also a squeaky wood floor, which resulted in some murderous glances thrown at latecomers). Ms. Papayani again showed her impeccable skill in the technically demanding Scriabin piece (Piano Sonata #3), as well as her sensitivity in the interpretations of the stark Bach Prelude and Fugue in B minor and Haydn's joyous Sonata in C major. The program ended in a more modern style with Ligeti's Etude 4: Fanfares, with its hint of jazz rhythms and Piazzolla's Tango #1 from the Tango Suite.
CHRISTMAS SPIRIT with Finnish Art and Music!
12/7 Reception for Hetkinen! Exhibit of jewelry and small object design projects, by graduating students of Lahti University of Applied Sciences; Lumijewelry exhibit, sale of handcrafted silver jewelry by Sofia Laiti; Johanna Telander in concert, accompanied by Chris Telander.
Finland Center volunteer Henna Hallstrom (L) and treasurer Helena Niskanen (R) at the bazaar table, with Heli Sirvio of the Finnish Church in the middle.
Ttraditional Finnish Christmas Event
The traditional Finnish Christmas Event : bazaar and Kauneimmat joululaulut (the Most Beautiful Christmas Songs) drew approximately 300 Finns and friends of FInland to Greenwich Village on Saturday, Nov. 27. All the Finnish community organizations were represented and everyone enjoyed shopping for Finnish chocolate, liquorice, salmiakki, rye bread, and books for children and adults, as well as many kinds of useful Christmas gift items.
Old friends caught up with news while savoring traditional rice porridge in the church parish hall. Then everyone gathered in the church to watch the children's Lucia procession, performances by talented local Finnish musicians and to sing favorite Christmas songs from Finland, accompanied by organist (and also FCF Music Director) Kalle Toivio.
Sini Simonen
Sini Simonen gave a perfect performance on November 4 at the Salmagundi Club! Simonen has already been awarded in several valued violin contests:Finalist, Sibelius Violin Contest 2005; 2nd prize, Carl Flesch -Violin Contest 2008; 1st prize, Cremona International Violin Solo Competition 2008; and 2nd prize, Rodolfo Lipizer -Violin Contest 2009.
Simonen has played recitals in Finland, Germany, Norway, Hungary, Italy, Switzerland and Holland. She has appeared as a soloist with orchestras such as the Finnish Radio Orchestra, the Helsinki Philharmonic, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, The Gyõr Philharmonic, the Kuopio Philharmonic and the Helsinki Strings. She has also toured as a chamber musician in Japan and Mongolia with the reowned violinist Midori. Her first commercial recording was published by Warner Music in 2010; she plays as a soloist of the Bach Double violin concerto with Réka Szilvay and the Helsinki Strings.
Her teacher of many years is Lara Lev, who was in the audience at this performance also, and seemed happy with her student's performance!
Simonen is ready to compete in the upcoming Sibelius Violin Contest in Helsinki from November 21 to December 2, where she is one of two Finnish participants among 40 finalists. Her program at the club consisted of both solo pieces and compositions for violin and piano; she was accompanied by Oskar Jezior. She showed her mastery of both classical pieces such as a Solo violin sonata in C-major by J. S. Bach,
Violin concerto No. 5, A-major by Mozart, Capriccios No. 11 and 24 by N. Paganini and Ballade Op. 115, Danse caractéristique Op. 79/3 and Danse champêtre Op. 106 /1 by Jean Sibelius; as well as modern compositions by Kaija Saariaho (Tocar) and Ysaye (Solo violin sonata, No. 6).
We wish Sini success in the contest and hope to hear her again in New York, perhaps on a larger stage next time!
Anna Urrey, flute and Kalle Toivio, piano
Anna Urrey and Kalle Toivio gave a flute and piano concert on October 27 at the Salmagundi Club. Anna Urrey, who will complete her studies at Manhattan School of Music in the spring, had compiled a program of compositions for flute and piano by internationally known composers as well as the Finnish composer Heino Kaski. She also played several beloved songs by Sibelius, Merikanto and others, arranged by herself for the flute. The concert attracted a roomful of members of the Salmagundi Club as well as Finland Center, and several newcomers.
ARCTIC JUNGLE FASHION GALA AND LIVE AUCTION
Arctic Jungle Fashion Gala on Sept 29 attracted nearly 200 people and was a
resounding success! Details and photos to follow , also on the Arctic Jungle Fashion Gala blog.
Total revenue 24559.90
SEB contribution for PH 3500.00
FCF revenue 21059.90
Expenses 9598.01
SEB for expenses 1500.00
FCF Net expenses 8098.01
FCF Net revenue 12961.89
FCF share 15% 1944.28
FCF remittance 8098.01
Additional FCF contribution 401.99
SEB+FCF remittance 12000.00
When I recommend to my fellow Finns to join Finland Center as a paid member the first response is always “Why? How does it benefit me?” Well, by becoming a paid member Finland Center is able to keep renting space from The Salmagundi Club and keep arranging events and free concerts. On August 27th Finland Center hosted a ‘Finntastic Jazz Lounge’ as a joint event with Arctic Circle, Finns of NY. The icing on the cake was jazz singer Tuija Komi, who was visiting from Germany.
Watching Tuija perform was an absolute pleasure. She treated us to such gems as ‘Tanssivat Porot’ and ‘I’m Gonna Live ‘Till I Die’ from her CD. Tuija is a very vivacious and personable performer, who really knows how to capture the attention of her audience. She performed for about 30 minutes, and then treated us to an encore. While Tuija was performing, the audience was treated to complimentary platters of cheese, courtesy of Valio. The full service bar not only had Finnish beer, prosecco, and a gracious bartender, but also what might be the cheapest priced wine in Downtown Manhattan! Following her performance Tuija mixed and mingled with the crowd, signing for autographs and posing for pictures. The turnout was good, about fifty people. This was such a fun event, and I’m already looking forward to the next “Finntastic Jazz Lounge”.
Kristina Ann, Arctic Circle Finns of NY
Later on the same evening, Emma Larsson sang classical jazz tunes by Jobim, Porter, and others from the Great American Songbook, accompanied by Sami Linna on guitar. Both are graduates of the renowned Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. The quiet setting of the Salmagundi parlor made it possible to fully appreciate Emma's clear voice, Sami's masterly guitar technique, and the smooth cooperation between the two — something members of the audience commented on afterwards. ("They need to make a CD together!") . For more info, see www.emmalarsson.com and www.myspace.com/samilinna.
This year, Otto is competing again in the same competition, this time held in Austin , Texas. En route to Texas, he stopped over in New York and gave a recital on June 19 at the Salmagundi Club. His repertoire is broad, encompassing both old composers such as John Dowland (1563-1626), Alonso Mudarra (1510-1580), and Dionisio Aguado (1784-1849), and modern ones; at this concert these included Denis Gougeon, Georges Auric ,Francis Poulenc, Germaine Tailleferre , Darius Milhaud, Gustave Samazeuilh and Joaquin Turina.
The intimate atmosphere of the Gallery with its wooden floors provided for a perfect setting and excellent acoustics, which allowed the audience to hear also the softests sounds and intriguing harmonies of the compositions. The audience in New York was certainly impressed with the combination of skill and sensitivity which Otto's playing demonstrated — we are crossing our fingers for him in Texas!
Meritta Koivisto, author of the "London Lover"
Oliver Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time
Many of the sections contain some biblical reference which Messiaen took for his inspiration. The title of the work itself had been taken from a part of the Book of Revelation: That there should be time no longer. It would have been of interest to ask the musicians how much of the religious significance affected their playing, but I didn’t present the query to them. All four young musicians performed this difficult work with relative ease as if they had been performing it all their lives though that would not have been possible. The exemplary artists were Marie Helene Bessesen, clarinet; Alexandrina Boyanova, violin; Elizabeth Means, cello; and Kalle Toivio, piano. I have nothing but praise for their playing. However, some professionalism if not seriousness of purpose suffered during the smiles shared by a couple of the players at various times during the performance.
Lee Alperin
Marie Bessesen, clarinet with Kalle Toivio, piano
Jaakko Heikkilä: A Man is a Man
Photography lecture with slides
Cosponsored by Finlandia Foundation New York Metropolitan Chapter.
Recital:
Pavlina Horakova, mezzo soprano
Kalle Toivio , piano
Valentine's Day Brunch and Concert
Idee Fixe played a wonderfully inspiring concert at the Salmagundi Club on January 21st. Their bold choices for the program included works by Gabriel Pierne, Lars-Erik Larsson, Vincent Persichetti and Samuel Barber. In addition the audience heard very interesting works by contemporary Finnish composers. These pieces by Kirmo Lintinen and Marko Portin proved that contemporary music in Finland is alive and well and sounds exciting and new at the same time. Many times contemporary music can sound abstract and too theoretical to the listeners, who most of the time do not have the luxury to study the works before the concert takes place. This was not the case in Idee Fixe's concert. These works sounded fresh and musically alive. Perhaps it is the nature of the combination of the instruments, woodwinds in this case, that gave the clarity and exactness to the execution that made this particular concert such a pleasure to the listener. Kirmo Lintinen and Marko Portin have managed to create music that is at the same time extremely interesting and stimulating to listen to. Job well done!
Idee Fixe, whose five members are all members of leading Finnish symphony orchestras, has found something very original in their ensemble, and we could all enjoy the fruits of their efforts in the concert. This kind of musicianship is something worth to preserve and support. It grew out of a need to form a chamber music ensemble from orchestra musicians and has developed into artistically cultivated organism. We wish Idee Fixe succes in their career hope to hear them soon again in New York City.
The Finnish community gets together to support the Panzi Hospital
By Mirva Lempiäinen
If one had to compile a list of discussion topics to avoid at Christmas parties, rape would no doubt be high up there. Yet on Dec. 16, 2009, more than 100 New York Finns and their friends got together for Finland Center's holiday party at the Salmagundi Club to break the silence surrounding this exact issue.
The purpose of the event, "A Holiday Celebration with Meaning," was to raise funds for the Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. For years, the hospital's gynecologist Denis Mukwege has patched together the bodies and lives of the battered women, who have become victims in the long-standing war.
"Sexual violence is the weapon of choice," said Lisa F. Jackson, a documentary filmmaker whose documentary, "The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo," played a central part in the evening's program.
"It's been shown to be more effective than bullets," she said. The Panzi Hospital treats about 3,600 victims of sexual violence per year, many of who have been ostracized from their communities. The most disheartening thing, Jackson said, is that many of the women are now repeat visitors in the hospital that has become "a fistula factory."
Despite being 76 minutes long, the film captured an attentive audience of about 20 people. Meanwhile, the rest of the guests enjoyed themselves by listening to the soulful tunes of singer Janita in the Parlor, and by challenging the billiard World Champion Mika Immonen for a game of billiards in the Lower Gallery.
The evening also provided the guests the chance to nosh on Nordic-style hors d'oeuvres served by Smörgås Chef, and to bid on items in a silent auction, including a dress designed by Paola Suhonen, some Ghanian woodcarvings and Finnish Christmas baskets.
In the event's opening remarks Finland Center's President Jaana Rehnström thanked the audience for "coming here and choosing not to remain silent." She also talked about the values of health, education and women's empowerment being Finland's greatest exports.
Rehnström announced that the holiday party would kick off a yearlong campaign of fundraising efforts for the Panzi Hospital. Ritva Jolkkonen, the Consul General of Finland, gave an overview of Finland's development assistance to Africa over the years, and thanked Finland Center for tackling such a difficult topic.
Jackson said she was happy to see that her documentary was making the rounds among the Finnish community in New York and that the Finns were enthusiastic about raising money for the Panzi Hospital.
"Ultimately it's a tremendous help because there are women who need these services," she said. "Once people know, you'll want to do something."
Ossi Närhi of Hastings attended the event with his daughter, Amy, and won his bids on three Ghanaian woodcarvings for $110. "I think it was money well spent," he said, calling the event a "wonderful occasion."
» Panzi fundraiser income and expense statement 1/13/2010
» Read United Nations Association article
FROM UKRAINE TO NEW YORK, VIA FINLAND
Viktoriya Papayani is a talented as well as beautiful pianist, who met her husband, Finland Center's Music Director Kalle Toivio, while they were both attending a music course at Suolahti, Finland several years back. Now settled in New York, the couple are a wonderful gift to the Finnish, as well as the larger New York, community! Viktoriya presented a program at the Salmagundi Club on Nov. 24 which caused the audience to erupt in cheers along with the applause. We were treated to compositions by Schumann, Rachmaninoff, Vivaldi transcribed for piano by Bach, and Ginastera, each piece introduced by the artist with illuminating as well as witty comments. The artist displayed both technical skill and sensitive expression; she deserves to be heard more often!
Sibelius Concert with Jussi Makkonen and Kalle Toivio
The tunes of Sibelius filled the room at the Salmagundi Club in New York City on a recent Sunday afternoon. Although much of the music was familiar to Finns and other Sibelius fans, some of the tunes have not commonly been heard arranged for the cello, played with superb skill and passion by Jussi Makkonen, accompanied by Kalle Toivio on piano. Makkonen interspersed the music with interesting background information. The two artists have exactly the same birthday and are on what they jokingly called their "60th Anniversary" tour (both are 30 years old) and will be heard again in Boston on Saturday, October 17. For information about that event, please contact us at info@finlandcenter.org.
For more info about the artists, see www.jussimakkonen.comand www.kalletoivio.com.