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biography / portrait

Johanna Juhola by Riikka Hiltunen / Fimic:: 2010 When Johanna Juhola was a little girl at a folk dance rehearsal, she was captivated by the exciting moving bellows and many buttons of the accordion. Before long, she gave up the piano and took up the accordion. This anecdote says something of the playfulness that is constantly present in her music-making. Juhola is a young accordion player and composer who is busily blowing off the last of the dust of past generations from her instrument. If young audiences have managed to miss the experimentation and revolution of Kimmo Pohjonen and Maria Kalaniemi, their attention may yet be grabbed by this highly talented young woman who sports dreadlocks and makes unabashed forays into pop music. Juhola first gained recognition in the early 2000s with two first prizes in Astor Piazzolla competitions: with the Novjaro Quintet at the International Astor Piazzolla Competition in 2000, and in a duo with Milla Viljamaa in the Astor Piazzolla category of the international accordion competition at Castelfidardo. At the Eurovision Song Contest in Helsinki in 2007, she performed her Fantasiatango, commissioned for the occasion, for a TV audience of millions. Tango, tradition and electronic music Tango nuevo is one of Johanna Juhola’s greatest passions, although she has no trouble skipping from one genre to another. She may be described simply as a musician, with no categorisation or pigeon-holing. However, tradition plays an important role in her musical identity. Her tango ensembles, apart from the aforementioned prize-winning ones, include Las Chicas del Tango (with pianist Milla Viljamaa and Finnish tango competition laureate Kukka-Maaria Ahonen). Tango orchestra Unto, which also features a distinguished lineup (including Timo Alakotila, Mauno Järvelä and Pirjo Aittomäki), performs evergreen Finnish tangos in new arrangements, drawing on the diverse backgrounds of its members. The Finnish folk music tradition maintains a strong presence in Juhola’s ensembles Troka and Spontaani Vire [the name translates literally as ‘spontaneous tuning’]; improvisation is a key element in the latter. She takes a more experimental approach in her self-named ensembles, the Johanna Juhola Trio and Johanna Juhola Reaktori; in both of these, electronics is an important component. And as if this were not enough, she also plays music that defies all description with violin virtuoso Pekka Kuusisto; this inventive and acclaimed duo goes by the name of Kraft. Pianist and harmonium player Timo Alakotila is an important duo partner for Juhola, particularly in exploring the improvisation potential of traditional pelimanni music. She has also recorded Timo Alakotila’s Concerto for free-bass accordion and chamber orchestra and performed it with various ensembles. Due to her unprejudiced approach, Juhola is in demand as a guest artist. Recently she appeared on the hip-hop disc Records Are Forever (2009) of the Don Johnson Big Band. She remains faithful to her own style whatever the genre, though. Instead of adapting or changing how she plays her instrument, she listens to her partners and reacts to them, improvising and living along with the music. Playful on stage Johanna and her music usually go together. She rarely plays music by other people, and she does not usually write music for others, either. One of the rare exceptions is the concerto by Timo Alakotila referred to above. But her interests also include the stage.Theatre and circus are dear to her, and she has written music for a number of productions. Her music is always to some degree visual and playful, and it suits a circus performance down to the ground. Instead of confining herself to the accordion, Juhola has fun with playing a wide range of instruments, and rather unconventional ones at that: she may use a claviola, a melodica or a Japanese mini-grand piano in both solo and ensemble work. For all her playfulness, however, Juhola is a serious musician who is rapidly advancing to the premier league of accordion players internationally. Her charismatic performances and joy of making music captivate viewers and listeners wherever she goes. Indeed, she has sometimes stolen the show in performances where she is merely part of the ensemble. So the buttons and bellows have come full circle, and now it is Johanna who excites listeners and colleagues. Translation © Jaakko Mäntyjärvi