Kantele-GO! Youth Forum 2021

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TV story about the forum

The Youth Kantele Forum was held from June 5 to 8, 2021 in the town of Olonets. The forum united more than 50 young musicians and teachers from Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga, Pryazha, Essoila and Olonets.

The Youth Kantele Forum participants practiced kantele playing techniques and learnt the basics of improvisation at the educational sessions under the guidance of experienced teachers who earlier participated in the Kantele-GO! international master classes. Musicians also enjoyed cultural program that included a visit to the Olonets museum of local history, master classes in traditional crafts, a quest on Karelian culture and history.

The final concert answered the question “What does the kantele sing about?” with the performance of the young kantele players' joint orchestra that became the culmination of the forum. Concert pieces for the grand finale were prepared by the forum participants  under the guidance of Nadezhda Drobyshevskaya, Alevtina Voitovitch, Aleksandra Sakharova, Tatiana Trunova, Anna Kovaleva and Radis Gainiiatov. The joint kantele orchestra played “Laulajatyttö”, a traditional Finnish folk song partly composed by Hanna Ryynänen and arranged by Hanna Ryynänen and Alevtina Voitovitch.  

Art students of the Pryazha School of Arts joined the Youth Kantele Forum on June 7, 2021. They used the equipment of the animated studio purchased by the Kantele-GO! project to illustrate kantele improvisations of the Youth Kantele Forum participants. Everyone could practice how to draw their kantele feelings on a graphic tablet and see the presentation of a new animated movie "Kantelenok". 

The Karelian-language service of the State television and radio company “Karelia” released a story about the Kantele-GO! Youth Forum in Olonets. 

The Youth Kantele Forum was arranged by the Pryazha School of Arts in the framework of the Karelia CBC project “Kantele Goes Global! Ground Zero”. We are grateful to all kantele teachers who devoted themselves to youth music education and made wonderful kantele presentations with their students at the Youth Kantele Forum:

Aleksandra Sakharova, teacher at the Youth Kantele Studio at the Ensemble “Kantele”, Petrozavodsk

Maria Zaitseva, Yulia Tolmacheva, Valentina Chernyakova and Dmitry Mukhorin, teachers at the Pryazha School of Arts in Pryazha and Essoila

Alevtina Voitovitch, teacher at TOIVE Folk Music Ensemble of the Petrozavodsk State University

Nadezhda Drobyshevskaya, teacher at the music school of the Petrozavodsk Music College named after Karl Rautio

Elena Magnitskaya, teacher at the Music School #1 named after Helmer Sinisalo, teacher at the Youth Music Academy of the Petrozavodsk State Glazunov Conservatoire

Anna Kovaleva, teacher of the Kondopoga School of Arts

Tatiana Trunova, leader of the “Silver Sounds” folk ensemble, Petrozavodsk

Elena Kuikina and Svetlana Blinkova, teachers at the Children Educational Centre in Olonets. 

Project  partners: The Karelian National Song and Dance Ensemble Kantele (Russia), University of Eastern Finland, Runosong Academy (Finland), National School of Arts named after V. Kalaberda of Pryazha District (Russia).

The Kantele-GO! project is financed by the European Union, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Finland within the framework of the Karelia CBC Programme.