FMQ - Sámi music Articles

From Karelia to the Skolt Sámi Lands: Cross-cultural sharing through music

From Karelia to the Skolt Sámi Lands: Cross-cultural sharing through music

From Karelia to the Skolt Sámi Lands: Cross-cultural sharing through music

How can music bridge the divide between two historically intertwined cultures, the Karelians and the Skolt Sámi? This is the question at the heart of the project ‘From Karelia to the Skolt Sámi Lands,’ a multidisciplinary exploration that highlights shared traditions, memories, and a renewed cultural connection.

Saara-Maria Salonen

November 29, 2024

FMQ Playlist: Sámi music

FMQ Playlist: Sámi music

FMQ Playlist: Sámi music

Part of the homeland of the Sámi people is in northern Finland, but the Sámi identity is a global one and is heavily defined by its music. The joik tradition stands apart from mainstream culture, even if expressed in rap or in world music.

Saara-Maria Salonen

June 30, 2022

Hear us out – playlists with music of Finnish minorities

Hear us out – playlists with music of Finnish minorities

Hear us out – playlists with music of Finnish minorities

As in any country on earth, there are multiple music cultures in Finland. Each stems from its own unique tradition and from the identity of its creators, but they are also in touch with the modern world. This playlist compilation focuses on four traditions: Finland-Swedish folk music, Sámi music, Finnish Roma music and Global music in Finland. The playlists were compiled by representatives of the respective cultures.

Anna Dantchev

June 30, 2022

How music can repair and boost sense of identity in Sámi culture

How music can repair and boost sense of identity in Sámi culture

How music can repair and boost sense of identity in Sámi culture

The Sámi artists are raising a storm in their local communities. Even though they are not often heard in the mainstream music scene, their importance for the local community is as strong as ever. Generations of Sámi people have had to figure out how to find themselves, how to have that balance between the two cultures – and music is such a helpful tool in this.

Saara-Maria Salonen

June 30, 2022

On my music and beyond: What joik is

On my music and beyond: What joik is

On my music and beyond: What joik is

"Joik comes in many guises, and I have been obliged to accept that my joik language is mixed up with all sorts of things. The main thing, however, is that my joik language is for expressing my feelings on my own terms," writes Sámi musician Ánnámáret (Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman). This column is part of the series where composers and musicians write about their music.

Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman

October 14, 2021

This tradition goes to eleven!

This tradition goes to eleven!

This tradition goes to eleven!

"This is a stunning début that serves as textbook study in how to keep one’s own tradition alive in today’s urban and multicultural world."

Amanda Kauranne

February 5, 2021

Distinctive dreamscapes

Distinctive dreamscapes

Distinctive dreamscapes

“Ánnámáret is part of a powerful new force in Sámi music and identity.”

Simon Broughton

February 5, 2021

Music and identity building - World-first conservatory degrees of Sámi music completed

Music and identity building - World-first conservatory degrees of Sámi music completed

Music and identity building - World-first conservatory degrees of Sámi music completed

The Sámi people, whose home region, Sápmi, stretches over the northern parts of Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia, are the only indigenous people within the European Union area. Music education in the Sápmi region has come forward in leaps and bounds over the past 15 years.

Tove Djupsjöbacka

September 25, 2020

Fast moving, varied and brave: WOMEX 2019 opening concert

Fast moving, varied and brave: WOMEX 2019 opening concert

Fast moving, varied and brave: WOMEX 2019 opening concert

“The music of Arctic Fire concert at the WOMEX 2019 was brave and contemporary, yet all of them drew in some way on archaic traditions in Finnish music.”

Simon Broughton

October 31, 2019

Intriguing desert blues yoik

Intriguing desert blues yoik

Intriguing desert blues yoik

"Western African desert blues is definitely one of my favourite roots music genres – and yoik is another one. On Áššu’s debut album these two are combined in a fascinating way."

Riikka Hiltunen

September 6, 2019

A refreshing newcomer in the Finnish music scene

A refreshing newcomer in the Finnish music scene

A refreshing newcomer in the Finnish music scene

"Vildá is a very refreshing addition to the Finnish world music scene, a combination of top-notch accordion playing by Viivi Maria Saarenkylä and the truly unique sounds that Hildá Länsman produces with her voice, both without words and in her native language, Northern Sámi."

Tove Djupsjöbacka

September 6, 2019

“If our memory fails us, we exist no more…”

“If our memory fails us, we exist no more…”

“If our memory fails us, we exist no more…”

Music has long been important in increasing international awareness about the Sámi. Their yoik singing has come to represent an often forgotten people on the edge of Europe. Singer and songwriter Hildá Länsman represents the youngest generation forging an identity between tradition and modernity.

Simon Broughton

April 26, 2019

Stylish and promising Sámi music fusion

Stylish and promising Sámi music fusion

Stylish and promising Sámi music fusion

"The duo’s fresh debut album is sung exclusively in their native Sámi language, and the yoik flows in the heart of the music."

Riikka Hiltunen

August 23, 2018

Gatecrashing the Nordic Music Days

Gatecrashing the Nordic Music Days

Gatecrashing the Nordic Music Days

The huge tide of humanity that almost overwhelmed the 2017 NMD was also its triumph: a characteristic gift from London, European capital of creative curiosity and of the big crowd.

Andrew Mellor

October 5, 2017

Music education in the Sámi homeland

Music education in the Sámi homeland

Music education in the Sámi homeland

The theory is that goal-oriented art education in Finland is provided for all residents nationwide, at school and through government-subsidised institutions. But in the Sámi homeland in the far north of Finland this is not always the case. In the field of music, this failing is being addressed through the Sámi music adult education project, supported by the European Social Fund.

Tove Djupsjöbacka

February 7, 2017

Yoik on the road

Yoik on the road

Yoik on the road

Wimme Saari, one of the world’s best-known Sámi performers, has made a powerful comeback after a long break away from the recording studio. His new album, Mun, contains less electronics than before, but there is still an element of trance involved. Wimme transports his listeners to another time and place.

Riikka Hiltunen

January 8, 1985