The Finnish accordionist Maria Kalaniemi studied at the Sibelius Academy and has enjoyed a succesful career both at home and abroad. Together with the virtuosi Lars Karlsson from Sweden and Øivind Farmen from Norway she launches the star studded Nordic Bellows.
Please click on this link for more information: Farmen and Karlsson have shared concerts since the turn of the millenium. They have sought to develop Nordic accordion music and recently established their collaboration with Maria Kalaniemi. The group consists of three accordion masters who play with blended and sharply contrasting timbres taken from the Scandinavian repertoire. The programme will focus upon Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and cross-border folk music, but also works from the classical canon performed with a wide range of accordion techniques.
Please click on this link to listen to more music: Listen to more of Farmen and Karlssons music here.
Maria Kalaniemi was trained both in classical and folk music at the Sibelius Academy, but tends to veer more towards folk music as a performer. She has played since childhood and has worked with a wide range of Finnish musicians such as Sven Ahlbäck, Katri Helena, Vesa-Matti Loiri, Kimmo Pohjonen and many more. In 2004 she was a ”special guest” with the BBC Concert Orchestra together with the Finnish group JPP.
Lars Karlsson from Gøteborg is a fellow traveller and began to play at the age of 10. He was awarded the prize ”Årets Dragspelare” in 2001. In the 80´s and 90´s he won a serious of squeeze box competitions and has several recordings behind him. In 2001 Lars received the prestigious SKAP stipend in Sweden along with Alice Babs and Björn Ulvaeus.
Øivind Farmen is originally from Vestfold, but now lives in the region of Trøndelag, and has played since he was 8 years of age. He was nominated for the Spellemannpris (Fiddlers´Prize) in folk music in 2008 together with the group Flukt, and in 2010 in the contemporary music class for the album Norwegian Safari. Farmen studied at the Barrat Due musikkinstitutt in Oslo.