The process described required a lot of personal work, ideas and research from my side, but the result it is very much credited to the fellow musicians who joined this project in its various stages. Through their cooperation and hard work, but also their personality, the music was taken to become our project.
So, it becomes clear that the name of this section is far from an overstatement. The late night practices, the beautiful atmosphere in the rehearsals but also the ability to overcome the difficult moments through communication, the overall experience did not only leave us with a desirable musical result but created something bigger, a community that is based on what all of us believe and represent. Here are the parts of this beautiful puzzle:
Helsinki based singer, Chrysa Panagiotopoulou, has been honing her skills by playing with musicians from all over the world since 2007. Originally a folk Greek singer, Chrysa blends the directness and simplicity of urban Greek music with influences from musical traditions of the world, creating a unique character in her way of approaching music.
Chrysa’s bachelor studies in global music (University of Arts, Sibelius-Academy, Finland, 2019) allowed her to unravel the compositional side of her artistic expression and extend the range of her talent further. Her distinctive voice colour and her powerful expression have the ability to deliver strong emotions and riveting performances.
Ilias Papailias (1971) is a Bouzouki virtuoso from Kos Island, Greece. His in depth study of Rebetiko and Greek urban folk music along with traveling around the world have grounded him deeply in the nature of the music. Ilias started learning buzouki at the age of 12 when he bought his first 3-string bouzouki. Ever since, he has dedicated himself to Rebetiko, folk, urban folk, pop-folk and popular music from Greece. He has taken part in big tribute projects in Greece and Finland and has participated in smaller and larger groups, such as Mikres Periplaniseis, Tamam, etc.
He was a student of Stratis Stratigopoulos. Today, after 36 years of continuous contact with the instrument and with music he is a valuable source of interpretation, repertoire, style and knowledge of Greek music, still believing that the best rehearsal is on stage, which also signifies a passionate and healthy relationship with music.
Born in Turenki, Finland, Joni Vierre, is an experienced and skilful musician. He has worked all over Finland and the Nordic countries as a freelance musician since 2012, with main instruments electric guitar, acoustic guitar, mandolin and singing, while recntly picking up Cora. Starting from Blues and Rock ´n´ Roll, he passed to improvisation and jazz music and theory. He attended and graduated from the conservatory of Turku and performed with different groups in all the known venues in Turku and around Finland, playing different styles of music while building his own. He has also collaborated with groups and Ensembles such as the Turku Jazz orchestra and Big band. He is genuinely interested and open to all kinds of musical influence from different traditions, adding to his own background while forming and evolving his own personal style. In 2019 he moved to Helsinki and was accepted to Sibelius academy of music in the global music department, getting deeper into world music traditions.
Vasileios Katopodis (1985) is a bass player from Athens, Greece. His love for music along with the encouragement of his family brought him close to music with music lessons starting at the age of 6 with classical piano and music theory, at 11 with electric guitar and continuing through a series of instruments like electric bass, percussion and oud to a level of being able to start expressing himself through the instruments. Through the prism of punk-rock, he has approached the music traditions of the world that had an impact on him and studied them while shaping his own musical style. He has played in a series of bands of different genres has been working professionally in music since 2006. It is his big belief that music is one, and if one digs deeper the purpose and the core of music are always similar.
Beltrán Cubel Gajas (1992) is a Spanish Violist born in Valencia. He began to study music at the age of 8 years at the music school in his neighborhood in Valencia. After studying four years at the High School of Music of Valencia he graduated with a bachelor´s degree (2016).
During these years Beltrán collaborated with Youth Orchestras of Spain, such as the National Youth Orchestra of Catalonia . It is noteworthy that he won the prize in the International Chamber Music Course of Llanes (Spain). He has also collaborated with orchestras in Spain like “Orquesta de Valencia” in the festival “Serenates” of the city of Valencia and with “Orquesta Reino de Aragón” in the International Music Festival of the Italian city of Riva del Garda.
Nowadays he is studying a Master of Viola Classical Music Performance in the prestigious Sibelius Academy of Helsinki (Finland). With the Sibelius Academy orchestra, Beltrán has always been a lover of different styles of music outside the classical music world. He has recorded with rock bands, and played in jazz orchestras.
In his future projects with Jong Metropole, it is noteworthy to mention that he is going to work in a concert with the famous jazz/funk band Snarky Puppy in March 2020.
Born in Porto, Portugal, João Luís (1988) started his musical studies at the age of eight in Conservatório de Música do Porto and was accepted in the percussion class three years later. He continued his music studies in Porto till 2010 when he was accepted to Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa. There he studied orchestral percussion, such as snare drum, timpani, marimba, vibraphone, multi-percussion set-up and jazz drum set (among other instruments). There he also got trained in chamber music, orchestra, early music groups, as well as jazz combos.
During this period João has developed a very versatile language as an improviser and performer, having cooperated with professional orchestras in Portugal and in Finland, but also taking part in folk music groups, jazz ensembles and musical theatre plays.
As a pedagogue he´s been teaching percussion, percussion ensemble and orchestral percussion in the worldwide known social orchestra project El Sistema, which is part of the national system of children and youth orchestras created in Venezuela, also existing in Portugal.
Nowadays João is based in Helsinki and he’s currently taking his bachelor studies in the Global Music Program, main instruments being multi-percussion, vibraphone and drum set, at Sibelius Academy. He continues teaching at Orkesteri Tempo, the El Sistema project in Finland.
Merve Abdurrahmani is a pianist from Finland with Kosovar roots. Her own compositions and fresh arrangements of familiar folk tunes and Balkan melodies, combined with the element of improvisation form musically expressive performances.
· Hyvinkää’s music school (musiikkiopisto, 2007-2017)
· Sibelius Academy Folk music junior department (2015-2018)
· Iiro Rantala’s workshop, piano lessons (2015-2016)
· Sibelius Academy, Folk music department (2018-)
· Sibelius Academy, Global music department (2019-)
Christopher Rodulfo is a world music percussionist and drummer from a small island in the Dutch Caribbean called Aruba. He plays a variety of different music genres on different hand percussion instruments and drum set. He is currently based in Helsinki, Finland, where he is working and studying as a professional musician.
Viivi Maria Saarenkylä (born in April 1993) is an award-winning Finnish accordion artist. She has competed internationally achieving numerous prizes from the most prestigious accordion competitions in the world. The young accordion virtuoso has also toured, performing in festivals and concerts, TV and Radio, both in Finland and abroad. Saarenkylä's musical range is wide and vivid, and her music ranges from modern Nordic folk to popular music, Latin and jazz, alongside original compositions. Saarenkylä was nominated as the ”Accordionist of the Year” in 2018 by the Finnish accordion association.