Näppäripelimannit and Pikkuaapit - With independent music towards a happier civic society
Mauno Järvelä, the director of the Näppäripelimannit orchestra, started as a folk musician in the 1960s. Since then he has studied at the Sibelius Academy and worked as a professional musician at the Finnish National Opera and the Finnish Radio Symphonic Orchestra. Since 1984 Mr Järvelä has been teaching music at the adult education centre of Perhonjokilaakso.
Mr Järvelä chose liberal education for a career, because he wanted to find an alternative for the existing, although functional, music school system. In Mr Järvelä's opinion, an adult education centre may work well in filling the gaps in the music school system; furthermore, the adult education centres can provide also diploma-oriented education.
Two of Mauno Järvelä's groups, Pikkuaapit and Näppäripelimannit, will perform in the opening event of this festival. Pikkuaapit is a live example of lifelong learning. Part of the players has started playing the violin at an age of thirty. Part of them have played in their childhood, given it up for some years, and found an ideal opportunity to continue their playing in this group. Their attitude is admirable; they attend their weekly training sessions regularly.
Näppäripelimannit is a group of children, who take a short private lesson (15 - 30 minutes) weekly. Group lessons and practice sessions are arranged during the weekend. Requests for performance are always welcome, and as the gig approaches, the training gets more intense and can culminate in effective personal training for a couple of days.
Näppäripelimannit also plays classical music. The major part of their repertoire is, however, traditional folk music, or pedagogically functional pieces based on folk music. The most important annual tour-de-force of these young musicians is the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival, where Näppäripelimannit appeared this summer as a 280-person assembly of singers and players.
Reijo Kela
Born in 1952, in the North East of Finland, Kela has always demonstrated a keen interest in all forms of strenuous physical training. As a dancer he officially launched his career in Helsinki during the early '70s. Mr Kela's own art of dance differs from that of the traditional performance. His choreographs are not limited to classical stage positioning. Rather, they can be viewed from various angles and end by altering the ordinarily accepted points of reference. Reijo Kela takes the time to prepare all the settings, which are necessary for his performances. Mr Kela's favoured work environments are art museums and galleries. He also creates pieces for open air settings such as streets and market places. During his career Mr Kela has won many awards. Since 1980 Kela has been granted different scholarships; at the moment he receives the State Artist Scholarship, granted for the period from 1995 to 2010.
Pentti Varkila
Pentti Varkila (born in 1943) started his career as a folk musician by
coincidence in 1953.
He began studying as an adult in Helsinki in 1965, and continues even
today in Lievestuore.
He was rewarded for his virtuosity as a folk musician in 1994.
Mr Varkila, in cooperation with Lievestuore Settlement House and Adult
Education Centre, acted as the founder of the Liisan Höylät
harmonica festival in 1994. He was the first person in Finland who
was awarded the title of the Adult Learner of the Year in 1998.
TURKU POLYTECHNIC, TURKU ARTS ACADEMY DEPARTMENT OF DANCE
The Dance Department's aim is to support the professional growth of the dance students and give them the competence to function as an educator in the field of dance. The basis of the department's ideology is to promote the students' capacity to question and challenge, and to help them find their personal voice of movement. The goal is to provide the students with the power to articulate their point of view in dance.
The curriculum supports the development of the individual student as a performer, choreographer, scholar, and teacher. Contemporary dance, ballet, improvisation, choreography, music, dance history, dance analysis, and new media technologies are vital components of the four-year course. Studies in contemporary dance encompass a wide range of styles. In ballet several different methods and perspectives provide a practical and theoretical basis for technical development. The Dance Department's Artist in Residence Programme enables close interaction between dance professionals and students. This gives the students an opportunity to experiment on and perform repertoires from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present day. Furthermore, the visiting teachers create new and innovative choreographies.
The studies lead to the degree of Bachelor of Arts in Dance.
