Metku Quartet at The Ithaca Farmers Market
Advertisement
ITHACA NY - Metku Quartet will play traditional Finnish-American acoustic music for your listening and dancing pleasure at The Ithaca Farmers Market on Sunday Aug 24th from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm.
Michael Ludgate (mandolin, kantele, banjo) and Katrina Mackey (fiddle, flute) have both been inspired by their Finnish ancestral heritage to learn more about traditional music and dance of Finland. The result is the band Metku. Katrina and Mike play as a duo but often are fortunate to have Philip Robinson (guitar) join for a trio. In addition to the traditional Finnish repertoire, they play music for contra dances, square dances, private parties and weddings.
Metku is joined by Richard Koski, a master accordionist from Trumansburg, NY. He has been playing Finnish-American folk music since 1970. Richard has always lived in the Finnish-American community near Ithaca, NY, and since the 1940’s has been exposed to the music in that community.
In 2018, Richard taught Michael and Katrina how to play Finnish-American dance tunes that have been performed at social gatherings in the Finger Lakes since the 1910s. Richard learned this music from his father, and although there is an active cultural group called the Finger Lake Finns, few musicians still play the old music. In addition to learning over twenty tunes, Katrina and Michael transcribed all of them, creating a written record for future generations. They are continuing this musicology research now that the pandemic is winding down.
NEW TUNE BOOK! - We are super excited!! It’s here! “Finnish Dance Music of the Finger Lakes” by Richard Koski, Michael Ludgate, Katrina Mackey. The idea came in 2017 shortly after we had started the band “Metku”, when our folklorist friend Maria Kennedy said to us, “You know there is grant money available to do what you guys are already starting to do”. So we applied for the grant which was a type of heritage arts preservation grant. Richard Koski was was the teacher and Mike and Katrina were the students. Our goal at first was just to learn tunes and write them down for posterity, but we soon started talking about the idea of a tune book so they would all be in one place and have room for some history of the tunes and the places they were played.
Both apprenticeships and the book project were made possible by grants from the New York Council on the ARTS with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The tune book contains 60 dance tunes never before published together like this. These are mostly old Finnish and Finnish American dance tunes, but a small number of them are originals composed by Richard Koski in the style of Finger Lakes Finnish Americans. They will be available directly from Richard, Katrina or Mike. Mike will have a stack of them at The Canaan Session ($20). Mike is set up for CC (via phone) or Venmo. We can mail these tune books anywhere for a small S&H fee (typically $6-). Email me for more details! -Mike
For more information about Metku see: http://www.metkumusic.org
The Finnish Dance Music Apprenticeship Project is made possible by the Folk Arts Apprenticeship program at the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Michael Ludgate (mandolin, kantele, banjo) and Katrina Mackey (fiddle, flute) have both been inspired by their Finnish ancestral heritage to learn more about traditional music and dance of Finland. The result is the band Metku. Katrina and Mike play as a duo but often are fortunate to have Philip Robinson (guitar) join for a trio. In addition to the traditional Finnish repertoire, they play music for contra dances, square dances, private parties and weddings.
Metku is joined by Richard Koski, a master accordionist from Trumansburg, NY. He has been playing Finnish-American folk music since 1970. Richard has always lived in the Finnish-American community near Ithaca, NY, and since the 1940’s has been exposed to the music in that community.
In 2018, Richard taught Michael and Katrina how to play Finnish-American dance tunes that have been performed at social gatherings in the Finger Lakes since the 1910s. Richard learned this music from his father, and although there is an active cultural group called the Finger Lake Finns, few musicians still play the old music. In addition to learning over twenty tunes, Katrina and Michael transcribed all of them, creating a written record for future generations. They are continuing this musicology research now that the pandemic is winding down.
NEW TUNE BOOK! - We are super excited!! It’s here! “Finnish Dance Music of the Finger Lakes” by Richard Koski, Michael Ludgate, Katrina Mackey. The idea came in 2017 shortly after we had started the band “Metku”, when our folklorist friend Maria Kennedy said to us, “You know there is grant money available to do what you guys are already starting to do”. So we applied for the grant which was a type of heritage arts preservation grant. Richard Koski was was the teacher and Mike and Katrina were the students. Our goal at first was just to learn tunes and write them down for posterity, but we soon started talking about the idea of a tune book so they would all be in one place and have room for some history of the tunes and the places they were played.
Both apprenticeships and the book project were made possible by grants from the New York Council on the ARTS with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
The tune book contains 60 dance tunes never before published together like this. These are mostly old Finnish and Finnish American dance tunes, but a small number of them are originals composed by Richard Koski in the style of Finger Lakes Finnish Americans. They will be available directly from Richard, Katrina or Mike. Mike will have a stack of them at The Canaan Session ($20). Mike is set up for CC (via phone) or Venmo. We can mail these tune books anywhere for a small S&H fee (typically $6-). Email me for more details! -Mike
For more information about Metku see: http://www.metkumusic.org
The Finnish Dance Music Apprenticeship Project is made possible by the Folk Arts Apprenticeship program at the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.
Advertisement
Where is it happening?
Ithaca Farmers Market, 545 3rd St.,Ithaca,NY,United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherMetku
