A group of young Shetland musicians will showcase their talent in Finland this week as part of a musical exchange between Shetland Folk Festival and Kaustinen Folk Music Festival.
The group comprising of local traditional players (Yelena Anderson, Ella Robertson, Liam Slater and Magnus Williamson) will perform as part of a special Nordic collaboration celebrating tunes from various parts of Finland, Norway, Sweden and Shetland. They will also play a Shetland set in their own right as well as joining up with Finnish counterparts after performing together in Shetland two months ago.
The Shetland and Finnish groups have been mentored by local piano maestro, Amy Laurenson and Finnish fiddler, Esko Järvelä (no stranger to Shetland) who will also both be performing at the festival in their own right.
Yelena Anderson from Aith said she was looking forward to collaborating with Finnish counterparts: "We had such a great time with Esko and the Finnish exchange at Shetland Folk Festival and can't wait to perform the pieces again in Kaustinen. We are very very excited!"
Shetland Folk festival Committee member, Lewie Peterson, who has been supporting the project said it was important to support Shetland's young talent: "While we always look to take the world's music to the isles, our objective is always to provide a stage for Shetland traditional music and performers, and this project is a perfect example of that.
"We have connected with musicians and Festival organisers in Kaustinen for a number of years now and it has many parallels with Shetland being a small rural community with a rich traditional heritage and global outlook."
The project has been supported as part of Shetland Folk festival's Youth Outreach activity with help from Creative Scotland and The Nordic Council of Ministers.
You can follow how the group get on via Shetland Folk Festival's Instagram and Facebook accounts (see below).
Notes: The group performances will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
