Scottish music industry event, Showcase Scotland at Celtic Connections, returns for its 20th anniversary this week! The popular folk and world music festival's partner country this year is Finland.

This week, Showcase Scotland is returning for its 20th anniversary at Celtic Connections. At the event, musical directors and programmers of leading festivals and venues from around the world travel to Glasgow, to attend hundreds of concerts and a trade fair. 

Each year, Celtic Connections partners with a country to create new international links and advance opportunities for their musicians. This year Finland is the selected region – which means that a great selection of Finnish acts are playing the festival: Frigg, Johanna Juhola Trio, Juuri & Juuri, Okra Playground, Sväng and VILDÁ.

“The music of Finland will add vibrant threads to the weave of Celtic Connections and we look forward to exploring how our shared folk traditions and richly diverse communities can come together to create important new ties,” commented Donald Shaw, Creative Producer for Celtic Connections about the partnership.

The world-leading annual music festival Celtic Connections began on Thursday 16 January and will run until Sunday 2 February. It will feature over 2000 artists from across the world in 300 events across 35 stages. Finnish acts playing the festival will perform between 29 January and 1 February.

Showcase Scotland at Celtic Connections is produced by Active Events. The Finnish artists are presented through a partnership with the British Council and Creative Scotland.

Finnish acts at Celtic Connections 2020

Juuri & Juuri

• Celtic Connections, Wed 29 Jan 7:30pm at Mitchell Theatre 

• Showcase Scotland, Fri 31 Jan from 3:00pm at Spotlight Finland Reception (Drygate) 

Juuri & Juuri are a duo taking the Finnish music tradition back to its ancient roots - the Finnish word “juuri” means root. Five-string fiddle master Emilia Lajunen and multi-instrumentalist Eero Grundström have an immediate, collaborative approach to making music, rendering archaic material magically anew.

Johanna Juhola Trio

• Celtic Connections, Thu 30 Jan 7:30pm at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, New Auditorium
• Showcase Scotland, Fri 31 Jan from 3:00pm at Spotlight Finland Reception (Drygate) 

Esteemed by her peers as a genre-transcending visionary, Finnish accordionist-composer Johanna Juhola is a prolific collaborator across multiple musical fields. Her free-spirited exploration of Finland’s folk and tango traditions also features guitarist Roope Aarnio and sound designer Teemu Korpipää.

Okra Playground

• Celtic Connections, Fri 31 Jan 7:30pm at Saint Luke’s 
• Showcase Scotland, Fri 31 Jan from 3:00pm at Spotlight Finland Reception (Drygate)  

Masters of the rich vocal and instrument tradition of the Eastern Finland, Okra Playground combines vibrant three-part vocals with ancient and modern instrumentation – kantele and jouhikko (plucked zither and bowed lyre), synth and electric bass – in a new and exciting symbiosis of hypnotic beats and mystical energy.

VILDÁ

• Celtic Connections, Fri 31 Jan 7:30pm at Tramway 
• Showcase Scotland, Fri 31 Jan from 3:00pm at Spotlight Finland Reception (Drygate)  

VILDÁ is an original blend of mystical Sámi yoiks, grooving rhythms and improvisation – with girly charm. Hildá Länsman’s joik and Viivi Maria Saarenkylä’s accordion create a soundscape that takes the listener to a fascinating journey to the Sámi land – the vast landscapes under the arctic hills and frosty winds. 

Sväng

• Celtic Connections, Sat 1 Feb 7:30pm at The Mackintosh Church 
• Showcase Scotland, Fri 31 Jan from 3:00pm at Spotlight Finland Reception (Drygate) 

From Finland, Sväng’s line-up features chromatic, diatonic and bass harmonicas plus the rare vintage Harmonetta, creating a truly unique sound that spans from music of the Balkans, Finnish Tango, Scandinavian folk music, to Sibelius and Chopin, abetted by brilliant showmanship. In 2019, Sväng was awarded to “Artist of the Year” at Finnish Etnogaala and nominated to prestigious Nordic Council Music Prize.
“The harmonica equivalent of the Kronos Quartet” (Songlines). 

Frigg  

• Celtic Connections, Sat 1 Feb 7:30pm at City Halls
• Showcase Scotland, Fri 31 Jan from 3:00pm at Spotlight Finland Reception (Drygate) 

The leading act of the Nordic fiddle scene, Frigg draws influence from their homeland joyfully fusing Nordic and bluegrass flavours to create their own signature: Nordgrass. Tight interplay between four violins, with mandolin, cittern, guitar and double bass, is spiced with a sparkling, high-energy stage show – presenting an outstanding display of richly exultant virtuosity on all fronts.