Choir ideology
I have the honor of leading three amazing choirs. They have such a high spirit and daring that it surprises me every single week.
It is important for me that there are no entrance examinations in none of them. I believe that the joy of singing is just as big whether you’re experienced or not and the level of one’s technical music skills doesn’t necessarily relate to the artistic level. Genuinely throwing oneself into something can be a lot touching and inspiring for listeners than a flawless voice.
Tampereen Ihankaikkinen Kuninkaallinen Tuomiokuoro
The High and Mighty Doomsday Choir of Tampere
Metsän valvottamat - Suurkuoroteos
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This choir was founded in 2019 to be a playground for professional musicians. It’s core is in Finnish Folk Music and improvisation. It is an ambitious group where the goal is to challenge and develop it’s members musical skills and learn tools to make music of the moment. It doesn’t carry the load of certain aesthetics. It aims to bring out the best of it’s members and have as many genres and sound ideals as it has got singers. Humour and daring are one of it’s strongest tools, which is already written in it’s name.
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This choir will be performing a new full concert on November 2023 in a parking hall. It is build around a concept of urban cathedrals - profane spaces with a sacred sounding echo. Those songs are composed by Petra Poutanen who is also the leading the choir.
In this production three choirs were put together to perform two short stories from Samuli Paulaharju’s Tunturien yöpuolta in a National Park. The stories (Kieruan vanha pappi, Suongil suuri noita) are originally ancient and they and are filled with humor in which human is at the same time both big and small. The beliefs before christianity and after meet in these stories. Collision is inevitable and it seems to be the priests that learns a lesson about forces stronger than them.
They are composed by Petra Poutanen and duration altogether approximately 50 minutes. Parts of these compositions were performed in Operaatio Paulaharju-wilderness theater project but as this they were premiered September 2020, with masks on. Performances were sold out and it seems that the story of these compositions is to be continued. Next production with a new part will be performed 2024.
Female Choir Tellus
Susinartut - Wolf bitches
Tellus is a female choral group that tackles even the biggest topics fearlessly but with respect. The group has grown to over 40 members of varied ages and backgrounds. Among other choral works, Tellus has produced an impacting performance based on the texts written by women consigned to prison camps in the Finnish Civil War: Susinartut – 1918 (Wolf bitches – 1918) which was noticed all over Finland. The choir has also given premieres to many of its leaders’ compositions.
Now Tellus is rehearsing a new spectacle where the choir as an instrument gets completely new meanings. In the group created choral drama, Tellus swears by the Mother Devil in a ritual that frees not only the choir but the audience as well from their confining shackles. The work will premiere in the spring of 2023. The leader of Tellus is Petra Poutanen.
Susinartut is a performance where texts written by women who were in prisoner camps in Finnish civil war, are finally being heard. Those women were silenced, but are not anymore. This performance is moving inside and around the audience and gives a very special experience.
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It is performed by Female Choir Tellus and it is composed by Petra Poutanen and Tellu Turkka. It is directed by Päivi Järvinen. It's duration is 70 minutes. It's first tour in winter 2018-2019 was completely sould out in every city it traveled in to.
RAMA VOCALS
"RAMA Vocal Center is recognized internationally as a leading European center of innovative choir leading studies within the style of pop/jazz/impro etc." RAMA VOCALS is a choir gathered among the students and alumnis and has performed for example with Bobby McFerrin and Gimme5. Petra Poutanen has been a visiting soloist for this choir in different festivals in four countries.
VÄKI - PEOPLE/FOLK
This choir was founded in 2019 to be an improvising folk music choir for everyone, from teenagers to elders and all genres. It is a performing choir without any assumptions of certain musical skills. It respects it’s members as artists with whatever musical background they have. The aim is to expand ones roles in a group and learn to communicate through music.
VÄKI will be performing a full concert under a bridge on September 2023. Some of the texts that will be sung are written by people who have experienced homelessness.
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These songs are mostly composed by Petra Poutanen, who is also leading this choir.