Finnish
Improvisation
Iki-Turso
Mordovia
Seto
Ingria
Karelia
News
There is an endless variety of tones in the human voice. Between the first cry and the last sigh the human life contains all kinds of different qualities of tones, rhythms, shouts, whispers, laughter and cry, all these - and what is between these - is there. The vocal improvisations of MeNaiset are born from this spectrum of voices. They start out from different emotional states, which also guide structure of the improvisations. In experimental vocal art the singers want to find new dimensions for the use of their voices as well as new means of statement for their music. While they are singing they also make use of the possibilities of the premises and the change in acoustics by for instance moving around in the room.
The two people who guided the MeNaiset members into the rich world of vocal improvisation were professor Heikki Laitinen of Sibelius Academy and the Swedish Marie Selander, both vocal artists themselves. In 1995 the ensemble prepared together with Marie Selander a vocal improvisation work called Minne - Läpikuultava kissa (Memory - The Transparent Cat) for
the Human Voice Festival in Helsinki. Since then vocal improvisation has been an inseparable part of the ensemble´s repertoire. Later MeNaiset has searched for and brought up new voice worlds in for instance Ääniä! (Voices!) happening with their installation art work Kohtaaminen (Meeting, 2000) and in the vocal performance Sonic Eye (2000), produced by Mark McLouglin for the Finnish Broadcasting Company and performed on the walls of the Suomenlinna Fortress in Helsinki.