Weaving together polyrhythms and organic beats, Maija Kauhanen creates unique soundscapes and compelling grooves.

Maija Kauhanen is a Finnish kantele virtuoso, singer, and multi-instrumentalist as well as a talented composer and lyricist. She is known to be a charismatic performer with an entrancing stage presence. As a solo artist, she plays self-penned music as a one-woman orchestra simultaneously playing the kantele, percussion, and singing on top. The music Maija Kauhanen plays as a solo act is all composed by her, but the foundation of her music is deeply rooted in Finnish folk music. Weaving her kantele playing together with her versatile singing voice, poly-rhythms, and the organic beats of percussion, she creates unique cinematic soundscapes and compelling grooves.

Pelkkä Poutanen is an experimental musician mixing different folk traditions and classical, electronics and roots music, art pop, noise and vocal music.

Her solo debut album ’Pyhä veri vuotaa’ (Eclipse Music, 2022) has been nominated for Teosto-award, which is one of the biggest art prizes in Scandinavia. It was also nominated for Etno Emma -award. Pelkkä Poutanen has been described as an earthquake, a big bang, hypnotic, insightful and original. Her background in music is broad and her music speaks out.
She is known for an acrobatic voice that includes techniques from Scandinavian and Finno-Ugrian folk singing to techniques of throat singing. She is mixing various international folk traditions, electronics, classical and roots music, art pop, noise and vocal music to create exciting new soundscapes.

Duration 2 h 20 min, incl. intermission
The floor has room for dancers

Kaikukortti event

JuuriJuhla-RotFest: Maija Kauhanen, Pelkkä Poutanen

The event “JuuriJuhla-RotFest: Maija Kauhanen, Pelkkä Poutanen” has ended