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The documentary series Conductors cannot help but enhance the very myth it seeks to dismantle. However, it creates a setting where Finland’s leading conductors appear as real people – an outcome that is not self-evident in the classical music world.

This article was originally published in FMQ in 2005. “In an era of complex negotiations of personal and cultural identity, glocalised jazz styles in the broader forum of the global cultural economy are providing a means for musicians around the world to assert their cultural identity within the music”, writes Stuart Nicholson.

In this deeply personal column, Markku Klami reflects on how music became his survival strategy, why composing remains his greatest calling, and how culture can give us a reason to live. “Art fosters hope, opens up new perspectives and brings us together”, writes Klami.

What happens when Finland’s national instrument, the kantele, is reimagined with electric bass, fiddle and rock and pop vocals? After a 30-year break, Salamakannel returns with a bold new album that blurs the line between ancient traditions and contemporary innovation.

Pianists today may not be familiar with Ingeborg Hymander, let alone her importance to the development of the art of the piano in Finland. They should, though. Who was this authority in piano pedagogy who was highly esteemed in her lifetime and whose influence can be felt in Finland and further afield even to this day?

“What is the common denominator between Sámi-Finnish, Finnish-Caribbean, Finnish-Senegalese and klezmer music?” asks Riikka Hiltunen in this record review, which features four world music albums released in 2024.

Forty years have passed since FMQ was launched in 1985 as the Finnish Music Quarterly. In this column, editor-in-chief Lasse Lehtonen reflects on the past decades – and looks ahead to the future.

The accordion’s image in Finland has constantly been renegotiated by performers, composers, instrument makers and audiences who have recognised its potential in a variety of settings. Each of its many roles contributes to a vibrant mosaic. But how has this mosaic been compiled, and what does it look like in Finland today?

Finnish accordion music spans a wide gamut from interpreters of Baroque music to nimble-fingered entertainers to earthy folk musicians. Underlying them all in one way or another is the history of the accordion as an instrument of the common people for dancing.