ESTONIA

Folklore group KANNELKOND
 Group leader Tuule Kann

„Kannelkond“ (Estonian kannel musician’s company) has gathered 10 years ago around Tuule Kann and firstly consisted mainly of people who had made kannels themselves and wanted to play them. The best way to learn playing kannel is simply to play and enjoy playing together, so Kannelkond was born this way. It unites friends, who love playing, but also singing, dancing and communicating.

Members of „Kannelkond“ will also join „Väike Hellero“ to sing and play and dance.

Folklore group VAIKE HELLERO
 Group leader Janika Oras

Members of the Tallinn group “Väike Hellero” (English: Little Hellero, hellero is onomatopoeic word ) have been singing together for almost 20 years. Folklore group has gathered quite a number of songs over these years – songs from Estonia and Setoland, from Izhorians (a declining nation of Finno-Ugric origin in Finland) and Votians (small nation kindred of Estonians and Finnish, settled in Russia). They mainly come from the collections of Estonian Folklore Archives, from crackling wax rolls and gramophone records. The songs themselves date back many centuries. „We have learned them from recordings and try to sing them as they were sung originally. They echo a different soundscape, lost for the most part, strange and exotic for the modern listener, but we like it that way. On the other hand, these songs are alive right here, right now. They are ours and we are new.“

Folklore group also play kannel, bagpipes (torupill) and horn; perform traditional dances from beginning of the 20th century and around.