Pekka Huttu-Hiltunen
MusD Pekka Huttu-Hiltunen (b. 1954) serves as the director of the Runosong Academy. His doctoral dissertation, “Runosong in Western Viena Karelian in the 20th Century,” is an ethnomusicological study of the singing styles of six runosingers and the cultural significance of runosinging. Huttu-Hiltunen has had a long career as a music teacher and served as the principal of a music school in Kuhmo. In addition to his professional career, he has also been performing as a singer since the 1960s.
Researcher musicians in previous projects
Maari Kallberg
Maari Kallberg (b. 1970) is a musician-researcher specializing in the yoik tradition of Viena Karelia. Kallberg has worked extensively in the field of folk music as a musician, researcher, and teacher. She has been singing with the MeNaiset vocal ensemble, which specializes in the music of Finno-Ugric peoples and new sound art, since its inception.
Kallberg earned her Doctor of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2007. Her dissertation, “Singing Journeys to Viena Karelia,” consisted of a series of five concerts, a written work, and a CD. The starting point for her degree was the recording trip to Viena Karelia made in the summer of 1915 by Finnish folk music researcher A. O. Väisänen, along with Kallberg’s own research trips following in Väisänen’s footsteps.
Since 1998, Kallberg has been working on folk music projects at Juminkeko and the Kuhmo Music School. At the Runosong Academy, she is compiling a collection of materials from A. O. Väisänen’s 1915 trip to Viena Karelia.
Photo: Klaus von Matt
Janne Seppänen
Janne Seppänen has been working on folk music projects at Juminkeko and previously at the Kuhmo Music School since 2002. His specialties include Kainuu traditional music and computer-assisted music analysis. Seppänen is pursuing graduate studies at the Music Department of the University of Jyväskylä, focusing on music information retrieval methods based on melodic similarity in folk music materials.