KIMMO POHJONEN KLUSTER AND PROTON STRING QUARTET
Kimmo Pohjonen Kluster & Proton String Quartet – UNIKO features a seventy minute Pohjonen / Kosminen composition performed by Pohjonen on accordion and Proton strings with samples of accordion and strings manipulated, treated and reproduced by either sampling maestro Samuli Kosminen or sampling whiz-kid Juuso Hannukainen. Surround sound and lights expand the program to a full-dimensional experience. The Pohjonen / Kosminen Proton debut was in Helsinki April 25, 2006 and continued with Leigo Festival, Estonia, August 2006 and Savoy Theatre, Helsinki, September 2007, Macau International Festival 2007 and Köln Philharmonie 2008. In early 2009 Pohjonen / Kosminen and Proton String Quartet toured Uniko in Estonia, selling out three of the four concerts.
Uniko has also been performed with Kronos Quartet in Helsinki, Moscow, Molde (Norway) and had its US premiere in October 2007 at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). The Uniko album with Kronos Quartet is scheduled for late 2009 release.
Kimmo Pohjonen’s mission is to expand the capabilities, sound, performance and scope of the accordion. On stage Pohjonen uses live loops and effects enhanced by surround sound and lights. Playing since age ten. Pohjonen has performed and recorded in rock, folk, theatre, dance, classical, improvisational and avant-garde music groups and ensembles for three decades and has played on over seventy albums. He has received numerous artist grants and has received several jazz and folk music awards. Pohjonen’s music has been used in ballet performances in several countries. His various projects include solo concerts, concerts with duo Kluster, tours of the Kalmuk project with with Kluster and Tapiola Sinfonetta, Animator with multimedia artist Marita Liulia and an improvisation duo with French percussionist Eric Echampard. Pohjonen has performed with Kosminen at David Bowie’s Meltdown festival, Queen Elizabeth Hall in London and with drummer Sami Kuoppamäki at Patti Smith’s Meltdown performing Jimi Hendrix songs. Pohjonen is also a member of the trio known as KTU (pronounced “K2”) featuring King Crimson’s Pat Mastelotto and Trey Gunn. In 2008, Pohjonen completed his Earth Machine Music tour of UK featuring live collaboration with farmers, their machines, tools and animals. Pohjonen has completed the filmscore for the British silent film Flickerman and the Ivory Skinned Woman, the score for the Russian film Majak and the score, co-composed with Samuli Kosminen. for the full length Finnish feature film Jade Warrior which won them the Finnish Jussi Award for Best Filmscore.
Samuli Kosminen has been drumming since age thirteen. Eventually becoming a student at Helsinki's Pop/Jazz Conservatory, he furthered his interests by exploring electronic effects, toys, samplers and computers, adding them to his acoustic drum/percussion setup. Through experiments with electronics he began to produce and compose music. He has collaborated with an array of Finnish and foreign rock, pop, jazz, electronic music artists like Pepe Deluxe, Fat Beat Sound System, Nu Spirit Helsinki, Emiliana Torrini and many others. In recent years he has focused on playing, composing and producing music with Kimmo Pohjonen, KTU and Icelandic band Múm with whom he has recorded or toured since 2002.
Juuso Hannukainen is Pohjonen's alternate Uniko cohort. Percussionist since his teens, Hannukainen’s influences range from Afro-Cuban to jungle to dub and electronic music. He has worked with top Finnish bands Rinneradio and Don Johnson Big Band as well as having made music for contemporary circus and dance.
Proton String Quartet was formed in spring 2005 by violinist, arranger and composer Teppo Ali-Mattila with the aim to perform pieces made by the most interesting composers of various musical styles. Quartet members, three of whom are with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, have long careers in many varied music styles, are exceptionally skilled players and share a common open-minded and adventurous attitude towards new musics and projects.
The main principles for PSQ are: working in co-operation with interesting composers of various music genres, commissioning new works and performing forgotten masterpieces, combining various arts (for example dance-, theater-, film- and other visual arts) with string quartet and developing electric processing of acoustic sound.
During their first year of existence, PSQ work has included:
- the first performance in Scandinavia of "Variazioni sull' Dies Irae" by Italian composer Giovanni Bonato
- the world premiere of Sid Hille's work "The Transformation of El Chicho the Saint" for jazz quartet and string quartet
- recordings of Kimmo Pohjonen's works "Lumo" and "Hohto" for the Armenian film "Majak"
- five new arrangements of children's songs to Otava's song-book-cd "Lystitunti" by Teppo Ali-Mattila.
The Kluster / Proton project features new and existing Pohjonen / Kosminen compositions performed by accordion and Proton strings with samples of accordion and strings manipulated, treated and reproduced by Kosminen. Surround sound and light show expand the program to a full-dimensional experience.
Kimmo Pohjonen - accordion, voice
Samuli Kosminen or Juuso Hannukainen- accordion samples, strings samples
Proton String Quartet:
Teppo Ali-Mattila - violin
Matilda Solonen or Siiri Rasta - violin
Maarit Holkko - viola
Veli-Matti Iljin - cello
with
Heikki Iso-Ahola - sound engineer, sound design
Light / video design - Mikki Kunttu
Artist contact : Hoedown Arts - pap@hoedown.com |
See the video 
