Christmas in Cokato

Diane made two special appearances in Cokato this month.   At the Finnish-American Society's Pikku Joulu (Little Christmas) on December 4, after the lighting of candles at the Finnish Cemetery, many of Diane's kantele students performed with her at the Township Hall.

Diane also entertained the audience at the Cokato Historical Society Holiday Dinner at City Hall on December 7. She performed a set of original and traditional songs interspersed with stories of her Finnish-American heritage.  For the finale one intrepid kantele student (Audrey!) joined Diane on kantele and vocals for a selection of Christmas carols.

Students get ready to "rock the house" at Little Christmas.

Diane Jarvi sets up instruments at the Holiday Dinner

Give to the Max Day Results...

We were very pleased to be part of Give to the Max Day on November 16th. All of Minnesota got together to raise 10 million dollars plus for non-profits! (For more information and results of Give to the Max Day, simply click on the title of this post.)  With the assistance of our fiscal sponsor Springboard for the Arts (they even covered the online processing fee) we raised $200 for Ancestral Fires in one day.  Heartfelt thanks to those of you who donated through Give to the Max day--and a double shout out to the extraordinary fans who had already contributed to the project but found it in their hearts to give more.

Please join us in acknowledging the following individual contributors to date:

Lyle E. Lofgren

Harvey and Heidi Barberg

Ralph Tutilla

Daniel Newton

Victoria L. Woolley

Steve D. Wagenseller

David Braslau

Vergene Routhe

Barbara L. Pratt

Liz and Sophia Cherif

Richard J. Broderick

Marion J. London

Phillip J. Riveness

Cynthia Gentling

Judy Gallas

Thanks so much! We could not do it without You!

Fantastinen Uutinen!

"Fantastic News!" that is...

We are pleased to announce that the New Bohemian Arts Cooperative has been awarded a matching grant of 1500 euros from Suomi Seura (the Finland Society in Helsinki) for Ancestral Fires. Specifically, this grant will be applied toward a final "Finn Hall" style concert at the end of the project. Watch for further updates!

Please Subscribe to Our Blog!

Way, way down at the bottom of this page, you will find a link that allows you to subscribe to the Ancestral Fires Blog. It's an easy and fun way to follow what's going on with the Ancestral Fires project! We hope you will join us.

Have you heard...?

To listen to Diane Jarvi's music, simply click on the title of this article and you will be magically transported to the "Recordings" page of her website. There you can access samples of each song, and buy all of Diane's cds!

Musician Diane Jarvi Visits Dassel Area Historical Society

Ancestral Fires featured musician/teacher Diane Jarvi toured the Dassel Area Historical Society on Wednesday, Nov 10th while in the area doing research and advance work for an upcoming performance featuring local musicians and dancers.

Diane and the Kanteles Arrive at Temperance Hall

Cokato Historical Groups Acquire Finnish Instruments through

Minnesota’s New Folk and Traditional Arts Program

Representatives of Cokato and the Cokato Finnish-American Historical Society welcomed internationally known kantele performer and teacher Diane Jarvi on September 21 at 7 pm at Temperance Hall (3 miles north of Cokato at County Roads 3 and 100) to kick-off Ancestral Fires: Songs and Stories of Finland and Finnish-America, an extended musical exploration of Minnesota’s Finnish culture and history. The project is one of only five selected for funding in the inaugural round of Minnesota’s new Folk and Traditional Arts program designed to support the artistic traditions and customs practiced within community and/or cultural groups by identifying, documenting, preserving, presenting, and honoring Minnesota’s folk arts and traditions.

Kantele Maker Gerry Henkel

A key part of Ancestral Fires is making authentic instruments available to the community. At the September 21 gathering Jarvi and project organizers New Bohemian Arts Cooperative will present fifteen new 5-string kanteles, specially commissioned from master kantele builder Gerry Henkel of Duluth.This collection of instruments is a gift to Cokato in order to establish an ongoing group of players and further the community’s connections to the culture of their ancestors. The kantele is similar to a harp in some ways but has a compelling and unique sound. The original kantele had only 5 strings and was used to accompany the singing of traditional Finnish runes and stories, many from the Kalevala, Finland’s mythological folk epic. In the Kalevala it is said that a sage by the name of Väinämöinen made one of these instruments using the wood of a weeping birch and strung it with hair from a young maiden.