Suunta

Suunta combines experimental improvised and composed music in an exciting new collaboration of three musician-explorers of world music. Ancient and modern traditional instruments and the limitless possibilities of the human voice create the completely new sound of Suunta ensemble. The versality of the kanteles blends in with the ancient tones of archaic woodwinds and global percussion, giving room for the imaginative improvisation to shape sounds of serene landscapes and furious turmoil. There is a fair amount of traditional and folk music nuances to be found in the music, implicating the musicians’ deep knowledge of the Finnish and Finno-Ugric traditions and creating a soundscape of free ethno avant garde with utmost respect to the roots.

The three musicians Timo Väänänen, Anna-Kaisa Liedes and Kristiina Ilmonen all have a long and extensive experience in the Finnish folk and world music scene in various projects, ensembles and solo work ranging from traditional folk music to avant garde expression. They have separately made prominent careers as performers, composers and pedagogues and are now pursuing their new collaboration Suunta since 2008.

Kristiina Ilmonen
Flutist and multi-instrumentalist Kristiina Ilmonen has been making contemporary folk music, free improvisation and new music in various ensembles and other musical projects for over twenty years. She specializes in ethnic woodwind instruments such as archaic Nordic flutes and whistles and the ancient Finnish reed instruments liru and mänkeri. Ilmonen has composed and performed music for contemporary dance, theatre and film and she has played on over 20 CD recordings. She is one of the founding members of the group Suomussalmiryhmä, a collaborative of professional musicians and dancers, specialising on free improvisation in unusual environments. She has been often performing outdoors – in urban and natural surroundings alike, getting her inspiration from the deep Finnish forests as well as from the buzz in big cities around the globe. Ilmonen has a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, which she was heading 1998–2004 and where she has been teaching both traditional and contemporary folk music since 1990.

Anna-Kaisa Liedes
One of Finland's leading folk music singers, Anna-Kaisa Liedes has been an integral part of the development of the modern experimental folk music scene for over twenty years. Besides Finno-Ugrian song tradition, Anna-Kaisa Liedes specializes in voice improvisation, exploring the possibilities of the human voice. She has performed worldwide as a solo artist and with groups such as Niekku, Tallari, MeNaiset and the Voice Theatre Iki-Turso, as well as with artists such as Maria Kalaniemi and Heikki Laitinen. Liedes has composed and performed music for film and theatre and has recorded several albums both solo and with different ensembles. She leads her own ensemble Utua, which has released an album by the same name 2004. Liedes has graduated as Doctor of Music from Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, where she works as a lecturer.

Timo Väänänen
Timo Väänänen plays traditional and new music with various types of kantele, the Finnish national instrument. In recent years he has been making new music with the uniquely modern electric kantele which has a solid wooden body instead of a sound box. It incorporates a built-in microphone and is played on a matchingly futuristic table. A leading figure in Finnish contemporary kantele music, Väänänen has appeared in concerts and festivals around the world in solo performances and with various ensembles, including Loituma, Taith, Matara and A’tre. His third solo CD 'Musiikkia' has been released in the end of 2005. Like the previous one, 'Matka - Voyage' from 2001, it is played with the electric kantele. Väänänen has graduated as Doctor of Music from Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department, where he works as a part time teacher.