World Orchestra by Grzech Piotrowski

At her jazziest she reminds of Joni Mitchell. At her oddest - of 

Björk.

Sinikka Langeland

She is one of the special guests of this year's World Orchestra, although they say she often sounds like an orchestra all by herself. Sinnika Langeland was born in 1961 in Kirkenaer, southeastern Norway. She studied piano, guitar and contemporary folksong. Today she is the world's best kantele player (a medieval finnish instrument pictured below) and a remarkable vocalist to boot. Living in a small village of Finnskogen, she draws inspiration from myths, beautiful nature and wildlife. Her medieval ballads Strengen var af røde guld and Lille Rosa won her nominations for Spellmannsprisen, a norwegian equivalent of a Grammy. Sinikka is also determined to bring back to life another genre of folk music - the rune songs. She wrote a book on this topic (Karhun Emuu) and recorded two albums: Tirun lirun and Runoja. The latter won her the Edvard Prize. She was also awarded (together with her long-time producer Ove Berg) the Norwegian-Finnish Cultural Prize in 2003. Her last two cds (the 2007 Starflowers, and the 2009 Maria's Song) were released by ECM: the best testimony to her music's world class. 
sinikka.no

Photo: Linda Schade