Värttinä - Riena

  • 15 years ago
Värttinä (Finnish for spindle) is a Finnish folk music band which was started as a project by Sari and Mari Kaasinen back in 1983 in the village of Rääkkylä, in Karelia, the southeastern region of Finland. Many transformations have taken place in the band since then. Värttinä shot into fame with the release of their 1990 album Oi Dai.

As of 2006[update], the band consists of three lead female vocalists supported by six acoustic musicians. The vocalists sing in the Karelian language of Finnish Karelia. Värttinä collaborated with A. R. Rahman, a famous composer from India, in composing the music for The Lord of the Rings, which played in Toronto in 2006 and opened in London in May 2007.

In August 2005, Värttinä recorded their tenth studio album called Miero at Finnvox Studios, Helsinki. It was released on January 25, 2006 in Finland, and January 30, 2006 worldwide. Värttinä is also in the midst of producing the Värttinä Live DVD, which will include material from their 20th anniversary concert and other new and archive material. Its release is planned for spring 2006.

Värttinä has been featured on popular children's show Arthur singing their hit song "Matalii ja mustii" from the album Seleniko.