PROJECTS & ENSEMBLES

Animagios

Animagios is a Finnish multimedia art concept set in a magical world called Animagios, created by Santte Salonen, Joni Stein and Erika Hammarberg. 

In Animagios, everyone has their own soul-character, which is molded by one’s temperament, personality and identity. It evolves through one’s experiences and self-reflection. The mind, and our shared struggle for its well-being, is the central thread of the expansive Animagios project.

Ystäväni Tsizik (2024)

Photos by Jani Snellman

Music from Animagios (2020)

Salonen & Stein

Santte Salonen (Soprano Saxophone) & Joni Stein (Piano). Photo by Mikko Malmivaara.

The composer duo Salonen & Stein writes music that takes the listener on tonal excursions, where different dances, styles, and topics from the 18th century to the present are spinned together into a multifaceted program. Their sources of inspiration range from Nordic folk dances and tango music to musicals and Japanese anime. With their duo line-up, they present a colorful selection of works arranged for soprano saxophone and piano.

Ritva Nero

”This music is clearly made for dancing – but in what way? That is for the listener to decide: one can dance Finnish and Karelian folk dances with their familiar steps to this music or listen to the metal sounds and make a mosh pit out of it.”
– Tove Djupsjöbacka / Finnish Music Quarterly

Petri Prauda (Finnish Bagpipes), Emilia Lajunen (Nyckelharpa), Santte Salonen (Soprano Saxophone), Patrik Fält (Drums) & Jani Snellman (Electric Bass). Photo by Tiia Öhman.

Ritva Nero is a Finnish headbanging folk group formed in 2017. The music of the band could be described as Party Metal Folk. Lead instruments played in the band are Soprano Saxophone, Finnish Bagpipes and Nyckelharpa, complimented by a rock style Bass and metal music style Drums. Folk dance tunes are cleverly combined with the metal tradition of our time in a contemporary manner.

Ritva Nero has performed on several major stages at European folk music festivals: Kaustinen Folk Music Festival (FI), Haapavesi Folk Music Festival (FI), Nordischer Klang (GER), Korrö Festival (SWE), Guinness Irish Festival (CH) and Sommelo Folk Music Festival (FI). Since 2021 Ritva Nero has had a collaboration with Bafe´s Factory, a ground breaking Finnish record label. Ritva Nero’s debut album Immortal Tradition was released in 2022.

Barlast

”Proportionality in harmony and disharmony, density and scarcity, loudness and silence is the key to the alchemy of Barlast’s sound.”
– Balazs Weyer / Finnish Music Quarterly

Minna Koskenlahti (Percussion & Flutes), Philip Holm (Double Bass), Heikki Hänninen (Guitars) & Santte Salonen (Woodwinds). Photo by Ruusa Johansson.

Barlast creates spacious new music with a silence echoing in the background. The silence can be heard between the notes. Everything unnecessary is stripped away. Only the name remains as ballast.

Since its foundation in 2016, Barlast has released four albums and performed in clubs, festivals and showcase festivals around Europe and Japan. Currently the group is working on training AI algorithms to imitate traditional Finnish-Swedish singing and herding calls. The automatically generated vocals are incorporated in their new music.

The Sysmä Project

Verna Kylmänen (Accordion) & Santte Salonen (Soprano Saxophone). Photo by Carolina Stenbäck.

The Sysmä Project (in Finnish: Sysmä-projekti) is a survey of traditional music collected from Sysmä and its surrounding areas in the 19th and 20th centuries. The venture involves Verna Kylmänen, an accordionist from Sysmä, and Santte Salonen, a saxophonist with a deep affinity for old music manuscripts. Work began in 2019 when Kylmänen and Salonen set out to find traditional Sysmä music from the archives.

The end result of the Sysmä Project is a repertoire of contemporary folk music from East Tavastia arranged for soprano saxophone and accordion, alongside compelling stories about the ‘pelimannis’ who played the traditional music of that area. The project, which culminated in a concert, was realised with the help of a grant from the Häme Regional Fund of The Finnish Cultural Foundation.