The Midsummer Strings has been performing
together as a string trio for nearly 20 years. Maija, Marianne and Seija
knew of each other as children due to their Finnish Heritage and their parents
and grandparents involvement in local Finnish community events. All three
began playing their instruments at a young age and were all classically
trained. They have played in various orchestras and ensembles and
currently are all members of the Marquette Symphony Orchestra. Over the
years, the trio decided to learn more about their Finnish heritage and began
learning some old traditional Finnish folk tunes. They released a CD of
traditional Finnish music in 2002. From there, the Midsummer Strings has met
many current Finnish folk musicians from Finland and other locations and has
expanded their repertoire as a result. They have also dug further into
their roots by researching some of the oldest tunes that were passed down by
generations before they were ever written out. The Midsummer Strings is
excited to perform a mixture of all Finnish music ranging from old to new folk
tunes from different areas of Finland. They will also incorporate 5 string and
10 string traditional Finnish lap-harps known as the Kantele into parts of
their performance along with singing in Finnish.