Concert to demonstrate Finnish folk instrument

ORONO – Kantele Laulu, sponsored by the Penobscot branch of the American Association of University Women, will perform at 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, March 10, at the Church of Universal Fellowship, Main Street. Donations will be accepted at the door.

The group is led by Sarah Cummings, a former Orono Middle School music teacher.

The kantele, Finland’s national folk instrument, has a 2,000-year-old history. Its roots lie in a myth which says that it was created from the jawbone of a giant pikefish. For centuries, the kantele was played to accompany the runic poets who kept the myth alive as oral history.

Cummings, a Finn-American who grew up in South Paris, learned to play the kantele in Finland in 1998. She attended a 10-day institute in Finland in 2000, which inspired her to begin teaching the instrument in Maine.

The kantele, which ranges in size from five to 39 strings, is used to teach music in elementary schools in Finland. It also is played by master musicians on concert stages. Kanteles recently have begun to appear in American school music programs, including in Mechanic Falls.

Sarah Cummings and her cousin Ruth Hertz are co-founders of Kantele Laulu Inc., a nonprofit corporation which teaches the instrument through the Maine Kantele Institute. MKI offers group and private instruction for players at all levels. A separate course is offered for those who wish to build a small kantele.

To learn more about the kantele, call Sarah Cummings at 657-6494, or e-mail kantelelaulu@aol.com.