PROFILE
Juhannus, also known as St. John’s Day or Midsummer, is a tradition going back centuries in Finland. In the old days, it was celebrated on the first day of summer to ward off evil spirits and ensure good crops and fertility. A bonfire, or kokko, was always burned as part of the celebration. The tradition continues today in all Finnish communities, but mainly for the purpose of people getting together to have a good time. Here in our Finger Lakes Finnish community, we get together near the first day of summer for an outside picnic with food, live music, games, and a huge bonfire after dark.
Ruth Luoma Makie recalled a Juhannus celebration near Trumansburg in 1926:
“They had all kinds of food and the program. Lempi Niemi and I always used to get hoodwinked into putting something on for the program. We used to get up there and sing and recite poetry or something. I remember at one place we stood on a stump and did our recitation. Some people would play accordions, and Wayne Makie used to play the violin.”
This section is excerpted from Finnish Dance Tunes of the Finger Lakes, by Richard Koski, Michael Ludgate, and Katrina Mackey.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcTQFVQsss4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joO7BGIp-H4
The performances by Metku of Pohjanmaan Jenkka (Northland Schottische), Laurin Sottiisi (Lauri’s Schottische), Renki Jussi (Hired Man John), and Sillälailla Tällälailla (This Way, That Way) were recorded at the Finger Lakes Finns’ 2022 Juhannus Gathering at Keturi’s Green Acres in Van Etten, New York. This group is made up of Richard Koski on diatonic button accordion, Michael Ludgate on mandolin, Katrina Mackey on fiddle, Phil Robinson on guitar, and Jeff Sauer on bass. These videos were produced by Richard’s son, Jason Koski.
PROFILE
Metku Quartet features Richard Koski on accordion, Katrina Mackey on Fiddle, Michael Ludgate on Mandolin and Phil Robinson on guitar. They play Finnish and Finnish American dance tunes from the Finger Lakes communities of Spencer, Van Etten, Newfield, and Trumansburg, New York.
This concert celebrated the completion of the tune book, Finnish Dance Tunes of the Finger Lakes, a valuable collection for musicians and scholars interested in Finnish American history and folklife. It combines transcriptions of Finnish American schottisches, polkas, and waltzes alongside historic photos and oral history interviews recorded by Richard with many of the people who listened and danced to this beautiful music. See the band members about purchasing a copy directly from them.
Katrina, Michael, and Richard’s work to sustain this local Finnish-American music heritage for the next generation has received multiple grants, including two Folk Arts Apprenticeships and one Individual Artist Grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). This project has also been presented twice nationally during FinnFest in Duluth, Minnesota.
This Polka medley includes “Juhannus Tanssit (Midsummer Dance)”, “Kiperä Polka (Tricky Polka)”, and “Porvoo Polka (Polka from Porvoo)”. Juhannus, also known as St. John’s Day or Midsummer, is a tradition going back centuries in Finland. In the Old Days, it was celebrated on the first day of summer to ward off evil spirits and ensure good crops and fertility. “Porvoo Polkka” was originally a very popular song in Finland around 1900 called “Kun Eklöfin Augusti Porvoosta tuli”. Later in 1906 it became a workers song called “Perustuslaillisten riemumarssi.”
— Finnish Dance Music of the Finger Lakes of New York
PROFILE
Inspired by their Finnish ancestral heritage, Michael Ludgate (mandolin, kantele, banjo) and Katrina Mackey (fiddle, flute) formed Metku to learn more about traditional Finnish music and dance. They are often joined by Philip Robinson on guitar and master accordionist, Richard Koski, who has played Finnish-American folk music since 1970.
Richard has always lived in the Finnish-American community in Trumansburg, NY, and since the 1940s, has been exposed to the music of that community. His repertoire consists of approximately 100 tunes Richard learned from his father, William Koski, and were routinely danced to in the local Finnish social halls in the 1920-50s in Spencer, Van Etten, Newfield and Trumansburg, New York. Historian A. William Hoglund documents the first Finns settling in the Finger Lakes in 1910. As agriculture spread into the midwest there were many abandoned, unkempt farms in Central New York and the land was cheap. Local real estate agents put ads for farms in Finnish newspapers in Upper Michigan. Three Finnish families came to buy farms in 1910 and encouraged others to come from the Upper Midwest. By 1960, approximately 500 Finnish families purchased farms in the Spencer, Van Etten, Newfield, and Trumansburg areas.
As a scholar of the local Finnish community, Richard has interviewed locals of Finnish heritage and documented traditional Finnish elder musicians, many of whom are now deceased. His contributions to documenting Finnish immigrant communities, and their cultural heritage are unique in a field that has predominantly focused on Finnish communities of the Upper Midwest. Since 2018, Richard has been teaching Katrina and Michael to play the songs Finns here in the Finger Lakes have enjoyed listening and dancing to since they began arriving here in the early 20th century.
Katrina, Michael, and Richard’s work to sustain this local Finnish-American music heritage for the next generation has received multiple grants, including two Folk Arts Apprenticeships from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA). This project has also been presented nationally during FinnFest in Duluth, Minnesota.
Finnish Dance Tunes of the Finger Lakes combines transcriptions of Finnish-American schottisches, polkas, and waltzes alongside historic photos and oral history interviews recorded by Richard with many of the people who listened and danced to this beautiful music. It is available for purchase directly from Richard.
The Finnish Dance Music Apprenticeship Project is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tz_wpurJVw4https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5FWV3Ytni0&t=6shttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GuUku1El6k
“Laurin Sottiisi” (“Lauri’s Schottische”) is performed in the key of D. It’s another one of the tunes Richard learned from his dad, who didn’t know the names of most of the tunes he played. Richard later found it on an old Finnish American 78 rpm as “Laurin Sottiisi.” One another recording it was listed as “Jukkan Sottiisi.” Richard says, “Sometimes what we think of as Finnish folk tunes, especially the schottisches it seems, are found in other Nordic countries under Swedish or Norwegian names.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX2v5-aT9Lwhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hevR2LN2QcAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltPgZEu-KEw
Richard named this tune “Sisu Polka,” which refers to the Finnish concept describing the strength of character one acquires through great struggle. When Finns began arriving in Spencer, Van Etten, Newfield and Trumansburg areas in 1910, they bought farms that had been neglected or abandoned in part due to the rugged nature of the land. They learned to work the land and built cooperative agricultural businesses to support one another. This notion of sisu feels appropriate for both the Finns that settled in the Finger Lakes, and for the way the musical tradition continues today. “I’ve never heard anybody else play this tune — not on old Finnish records or anywhere,” says Richard about it. “I don’t know where Dad got it, but it sure sounds Finnish, and the only music he ever played was the old Finnish music that his parents’ generation brought over from Finland.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7Pth7RG1QAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-olBieSBvMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1dPjzSkzjE
“Kallen Valssi” (Carl’s Waltz). When Richard asked his dad the name of the tune, he said he didn’t know its name, but he used to hear his uncle Jake in West Danby, New York play it. For years, Richard referred to this tune alternately as “Jake’s Waltz” and “West Danby Waltz.” He eventually heard it on an old 78 rpm record listed as “Kallen Valssi”, which is how he refers to it today.
PROFILE
Toivo is a band from Trumansburg, N.Y. playing music for social dancing – waltzes, tangos, polkas, cajun two steps, cheek to cheek slow dances, schottisches, hambos, reels, swing, and blues. Their music is a danceable mix of instrumentals and vocals with inspiration from the Cajun dance halls of Louisiana, the Tex-Mex borderlands, country honky-tonks, and the Finnish dance halls and porches of the Finger Lakes.
On March 8, 2020 Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts hosted Toivo’s seasonal time change dance. Local traditional dancer and musician Katrina Mackey teaches the crowd how to dance the “Raattikkoon,” a traditional Finnish polka. The band even throws in a Cajun tune for good measure!
Toivo consists of Richard Koski, diatonic button accordion; Jason Koski, mandolin; Stefan Senders, banjo; Jim Reidy, guitar; Harley Campbell, upright bass; and Annie Campbell, snare drum.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p07wdWxvL1Q
PROFILE
Food for the Spirit is a nonprofit organization that uses the arts and creative facilitation to support racial healing, ecological justice, and equitable food systems. This video looks at the work of one of their allied organizations here in the Finger Lakes, Mutual Aid Wildlife Rehabilitation, and their approach to environmental stewardship and dismantling systems of oppression.
https://youtu.be/EziYvtkaw1M
PROFILE
United Steel Workers Local 1000 is the labor union representing Corning Inc. employees. The Local formed in 1945 under the American Flint Glass Workers Union, and in 2003 the AFGWU merged with the USW. Local 1000 represents about 1700 members and almost 2000 retirees. Its employees work in 7 different Corning Inc. facilities located in Corning, Erwin, Painted Post and Big Flats New York. They have very active Women of Steel and Next Generation Committees, as well as newly established Veterans’ and Pride Committees. This video looks at what it means to be a union to some of its members.
https://youtu.be/oyvNHn4zA-4
PROFILE
The Islamic Association of the Finger Lakes (IAFL) serves the Muslim community of the greater Finger Lakes region within the Southern Tier of New York. IAFL seeks to provide an amiable atmosphere to the Muslims of the area for regular prayers, and other activities associated with the Muslim calendar. IAFL also seeks to build relationships with communities of other faiths in the Finger Lakes region. They aspire to be an inclusive place that is open to peoples of all faiths. Members of IAFL hail from nearly 40 countries across five continents. This video was produced by a group of high school students from IAFL.
https://youtu.be/r0vwhSCXZeA
PROFILE
Ancient Voices Media, is an indigenous, female-owned business featuring indigenous dancing, performing arts productions, indigenous language and culture contract services, public speaking on indigenous historical trauma and indigenous culture, multimedia 2-D art, and more. Led by Jocelyn J. Jones and her sister, Cami Jones, this short documentary provides an intimate exploration of the artistic journey of their uncle, Peter B. Jones. Peter is a distinguished Hodinöhšo:ni:h potter who has played a pivotal role in the revitalization of Hodinöhšo:ni:h pottery.
This video was made as part of the 2023 Community Documentation Workshop, an 8-part workshop series designed to teach residents how to gather and share stories in ways that unify our diverse region, advance cultural equity, and reflect the dignity and resilience of the people within our community.
As our friends, collaborators, and community partners complete their documentaries, The ARTS Council is proud to amplify their stories.
Support for the Community Documentation Workshop is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, the National Endowment for the Arts, and Corning Incorporated.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHRuZMY7p1E
PROFILE
Felicia Dvornicky has been making both Polish pisanki (wax resist dyed Easter eggs) and wycinanki (cut paper) for over forty years. Born in Dundee, NY to a Polish American family, Felicia remembers seeing family friends’ pisanki from a young age. In the 1970s, her husband, Jake Dvornicky, who was a founder of the Elmira-Corning Polish Arts Club, reintroduced Felicia to pisanki after learning of her interest in cloth batik. Felicia and Jake have made eight trips to Poland to reconnect with family and to deepen their knowledge of various folk art forms. Felicia was an art teacher for 30 years at Odessa-Montour, Corning-Painted Post, and Holy Family schools, as well as a visiting teaching artist with the Arnot Art Museum teaching hundreds of people folk arts. She has also taught internationally in both Poland and Slovakia. Her work has been featured in traveling exhibits, including Folk Artists of the Southern Tier (1985), and Out of the Ordinary: Community Tastes and Values in Contemporary Folk Art (1995-1998). She was the New York State presidential Easter egg representative in 2008. She has been featured in multiple solo shows, including at the Roberson Museum in Binghamton, NY. She has received best in show a number of times for both her pisanki and wycinanki at Gallery 911 and the Da Vinci Art Alliance in Philadelphia and the Glenora Music and Arts Festival in Dundee, NY. She has also been featured in multiple television and print stories regionally. In addition to pisanki and wycinanki, Felicia also works in acrylic, watercolors, Chancery calligraphy, batik on cloth, Chinese paper cutting, Scherenschnitte German paper cutting, and icon writing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUahJZx1o3w
PROFILE
The Southern Tier Indian Cultural Association (STICA)was was founded by Indian immigrants in the 1980s seeking to preserve Indian cultural traditions in the region. This short video looks at the early history of STICA told through the voices of some of its founders.
This glimpse into the traditions of The Southern Tier Indian Cultural Association was produced by Arpit Sapre and Apoorva Sonavani through The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes’ Community Documentation Workshop.
The Community Documentation Workshop, made possible through a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, began in 2021 as an 8-part workshop series designed to teach residents how to gather and share stories in ways that unify our diverse region, advance cultural equity, and reflect the dignity and resilience of the people within our community.
As our friends, collaborators, and community partners complete their documentaries, The ARTS Council is proud to amplify their stories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iiz4hjB_30
