From August 3-8, 2023, a group of ELCIR musicians from Vyborg, Petrozavodsk, Rzhev, and St. Petersburg, traveled to the ELCIR congregations in Kalevala and Segezha, Karelia, starting off from, and coming back to, Petrozavodsk, the capital of Karelia. The musical expedition was undertaken in connection with the First Summer Festival of Sacred Music entitled Kantele and Virsikannel. Project Coordinator Darya Shkurlyatyeva was joined by West Ingrian Dean Rev. Pavel Krylov; his wife Viktoria; Cantor Yelena Baranova of the Lutheran Church in Rzhev; members of Mikael Agricola Choir from Vyborg: Yelena Zhukova, Natalia Nekrasova, Natalia Nikolayeva, Elina Osipova, Marina Popova, and Galina Hyppenen; and jouhikko duo Yekaterina Runtsova and her mother Tatiana Gumenyuk from Petrozavodsk.The team brought along seven kantele’s, which is, however, nothing new for the region of Karelia deeply rooted in Karelian and Finish folk lore and music. The main goal of the festival was to show that it’s possible to use traditional folk instruments to perform sacred music! There’s a reason why the festival is called Kantele and Virsikannel as the kantele is a secular instrument and the virsikannel is a church one. Together, they praise the Lord now!
The group gave two concerts reaching out to locals and tourists in Petrozavodsk and Kalevala, Karelia. They performed pieces from the Taiga Mass authored by pastor and ethnographer Arvo Survo, combining choir singing with two jouhikko’s, a viola da gamba with a jouhikko, and a concert kantele with a Celtic harp! The program also included organ pieces by J. S. Bach performed by organist Yelena Baranova, which were prefaced by Bible readings. Also on the program were prayer songs performed by Rev. Krylov to the accompaniment of a 5-string kantele. In the village of Kalevala, Rev. Krylov gave a talk about Christian motifs in the 19th-century epic poem Kalevala based on Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology and in other musical compositions in the Kalevala style.
Acknowledgements:
The hospitable Lutheran congregation of Kalevala
ELCIR Northern Dean Rev. Vitali Luchagov and his family
Diaconal worker Svetlana Vikhrova who helped meet and accommodate the traveling musicians in Segezha
Yakov Vazik who received the guests in Petrozavodsk and cooked for them
Cantor and distinguished educator Natalia Vengerova who invited music and art teachers to the concert and was inspirational and helpful in other ways
Sergei Bondarenko who drove the van so skillfully
Thanks be to the Lord for keeping all the participants of the musical expedition, enabling them to get a feel of the life of Lutherans in the areas of Karelia adjacent to the White Sea coast and to use music to reach out with the Gospel!
Info courtesy of Darya Shkurlyatyeva, project coordinator
Photo credits: Natalia Nekrasova, Marina Popova, Darya Shkurlyatyeva, Yakov Vazik, Natalia Vengerova
