Folk Song 2050 | Sväng – Etno-Espa

The Etno-Espa 20th anniversary opening concert features the entirely unique harmonica quartet Sväng.

Programme

at 5 pm
Folk Song 2050
To mark Etno-Espa’s anniversary year, Etno-Espa, the Finnish Music Creators’ Association and the Finnish Literature Society came together to organise a songwriting competition titled “Folk Song 2050”. The Finnish contemporary folk music field is famous for its open-minded and forward-thinking attitude, but we wanted to tickle the imagination of the participants by urging them to look one step further. The winning piece will be heard at the opening of Etno-Espa.

at 5.30 pm
Sväng
The Etno-Espa 20th anniversary opening concert features the entirely unique harmonica quartet Sväng, who very fittingly celebrate their own 20th anniversary this year. With their uncompromising and artistically challenging, yet highly entertaining repertoire, Sväng have charmed audiences for two decades, all the way from Europe to Mexico and from Japan to China.

The pioneering work of the line-up of four professional musicians and four harmonicas has brought out the true potential of this small instrument. To mark the anniversary, Sväng released their tenth album Svängö Nuevo in the spring of 2024. The new album draws inspiration from dance melodies – from Finnish folk-dance traditions as well as the Argentinian melingo and the Bulgarian folk dance paidusko.

Eero Grundström – diatonic and chromatic harmonicas
Jouko Kyhälä – chord harmonica Harmonetta, diatonic and chromatic harmonicas
Tapani Varis – bass harmonica
Eero Turkka – diatonic and chromatic harmonicas