Eva Alkula

As the saying goes, “sometimes you have to travel far to see what is near”. Finnish kantele artist Eva Alkula and Japanese koto artist Tomoya Nakai have performed as a duo for nearly two decades. Their collaboration crystallises each artist’s identity as a musician and enables the birth of something new. The unique union of the distinct timbres of the kantele and the koto is “a match made in heaven”, even if the physical distance between Tokyo and Tampere remains 7,843 kilometres.

The kantele is seen as Finland’s national instrument and its mythological history is often reinforced: how Väinämöinen, a hero and the central character in our national epic, the Kalevala, builds the first kantele. The jouhikko is another instrument with a long history, known previously by the name jouhikantele (bowed kantele). Its living playing tradition gradually died down but was actively revived during the 20th century.

Today, the kantele inspires composers and performers across genre boundaries. Musician Maija Kauhanen and composer Adina Dumitrescu discuss the instrument from their respective perspectives.