GOLD AND SILVER ACCORDION FINALISTS CHOSEN |   MARCH 26, 2023

The finalists of this year’s Gold and Silver Accordion competition were decided on the Accordion Cruise organized by the Finnish Accordion Association on March 25–26. The Gold accordion is a competition focused on light entertainment music. The Finnish Championship has been around since 1983. The Silver accordion is a competition aimed at children, with the participants no more than 11 years old. In both series, seven musicians made it to the finals at next summer’s Sata-Häme Soi festival.

Aatu Kirén (Lahti), Joel Koivisto (Kokkola), Maija Liedes (Kokkola), Tara Pihlavisto (Karkkila), Alexander Repin (Tuusula), Emma Rissanen (Nummela) and Aimo Sorsa (Helsinki) will play in the final of the Silver Accordion.

The finalists in the Gold Harmonica are Marko Haapapuro (Kolari), Saana Kastelli (Pyhäjoki), Ronja Pehkonen (Jyväskylä), Heidi Rintamäki (Pori), Satu Sarkoranta (Laitila), Ilmari Tiainen (Lappeenranta) and Jarno Tourunen (Lappeenranta).

Almost 1,500 lovers and enthusiasts of accordion music traveled on the accordion cruise. The two-day event was full of concerts, dances and music groups, with enthusiastic players around the ship. At the closing ceremony, the Accordion Artist of the Year 2023 was announced, accordion artist Harri Kuusijärvi from Rovaniemi. With his open-minded projects, Kuusijärvi has expanded what the accordion can do as an instrument. Kuusijärvi has also devised and developed a new type of electro-acoustic concert accordion. The accordion cruise will happen next year on March 23-24, 2024.

The Sata-Häme Soi festival will happen in Ikaalinen from June 28 to July 2, 2023. In addition to the competition finals, the 40th-anniversary concert of the Gold Harmonica will take place, with several competition winners from over the years performing. The Sata-Häme Soi festival programme also includes Argentine tango, popular wartime hits, songs made famous by Georg Ots, accordion ensembles from around Finland, and much more.

For more information about the competition and Sata-Häme Soi, contact artistic director Sami Pirttilahti on 044 087 8987.

Photos of the finalists and semi-finalists of the Golden and Silver Harmonica can be found at this link:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/pfjad4wg169jcjo/AAD3NPOCEh-cNdwMwsPAoXria?dl=0

Photo by Markus Korpi-Hallila.

GOLD AND SILVER ACCORDION FINALISTS CHOSEN | MAY 8 2022

The 2022 finalists of the Gold and Silver Accordions were chosen on the Accordion Cruise on Mother’s Day, May 8. The competition final will happen live in Ikaalinen on Friday, July 1.

Saima Kairimo (Asikkala), Samuel Heikola (Pori), Sofia Sankari (Vihti), Kevin Niittyviita (Hollola), Joel Koivisto (Kokkola), Maija Liedes (Kokkola) and Venla Tiimonen (Punkaharju) reached the finals of the Silver Accordion for children. The age limit for the Silver Accordion competition is eleven.

17-year-old Marko Haapapuro from Kolari, 21-year-old Ronja Pehkonen from Jyväskylä, 17-year-old Saana Kastelli from Pyhäjoki, 15-year-old Johannes Koivisto from Kokkola, 15-year-old Ville Vehkalahti from Lavia and 18-year-old Heidi Rintamäki from Pori were chosen for the Gold Accordion final.

The Gold and Silver Accordion competitions are organised by the Sata-Häme Soi Festival and the Finnish Accordion Association. This year 2022 is a jubilee year for both organisations, as Sata-Häme Soi turns 50 and the Finnish Accordion Association turns 70.

SATA HÄME SOI TURNS FIFTY IN 2022  | MAY 1 2022

The accordion has been part of Ikaalinen’s musical landscape since the late 19th century. Music has been an important part of both celebration and everyday life, with folk musicians important and respected guests at the festivities. In bygone days, weddings, in particular, were a multi-day celebration with music at each stage.

In the late 1960s, a great renaissance of folk music in Ikaalinen occurred when a large number of skilled musicians came together to play. At the initiative of Rector Heikki Eränen, several groups were born at Ikaalinen Citizens’ College. Ikaalinen’s Accordionists (Ikaalisten Harmoniikkamiehet) were founded in 1968 and Ikaalinen’s Violinists (Ikaalisten Pelimannit) in 1969. The groups quickly gained great popularity throughout Finland, with Ikaalinen’s folk music becoming a world-famous phenomenon.

Sata-Häme Soi, which began in 1972, turns 50 years old in 2022. The festival is one of Finland’s best-known and longest-running summer events. Ikaalinen came to national attention in Finland in particular through the Gold Accordion competition, which was popular on TV. Strong local roots have provided a solid basis for expansion, with musicians from across the world coming to play to Finnish audiences.

The Finnish Accordion Association has operated with Sata-Häme Soi since the festival’s inception. The national association moved to Ikaalinen in the 1990s and turns 70 this year. The joint anniversary will be presented via a joint gala concert on Saturday 2.7. in the brand new Ikaalinen Hall, the White Rose Arena.