THE 30 YEAR OLD GLOBAL MUSIC CENTRE PRESENTS:
23th ETNOSOI! AT HELSINKI 9-23 NOVEMBER 2010
To celebrate the jubilee year, the festival now has its own website!
This November Finland's oldest world music festival presents among others African singer-songwriters, European world music visionaries, legendary Hungarian dance-house vibes and instrument exploring in the means of music.
Once again Etnosoi! does, what has been its mission for over 20 years now: to bring unprecedented artists to Finland. There are many new faces on the stage this year but there's always room for few familiar ones too.
The festival gets started 9th November when Titi Robin Trio climbs on the stage of Savoy Theatre. The French guitarist Thierry "Titi" Robin is considered as one of the most interesting guitar players of our time. Even the legendary radio voice and world music guru Charlie Gillet described him as one of world's greatest visionaries. Titi Robin Trio's fundamentals are in gipsy music, but among Titi's Mediterranean roots one can also hear influences from Asian, African and jazz music. In the hands of the virtuoso musicians stringed instruments, accordion and percussions communicate on a whole new level where improvisation plays an important role.
Guitar fanatics should find their ways also to the last Etnosoi! concert at Korjaamo Culture Factory, where UK's top players of stringed instruments Justin Adams, Lu Edmonds and Ben Mandelson will perform with their new group Les Triaboliques. 
On Wednesday (10th November) the friends of African music will be pampered. The Acoustic Africa concert presents three much respected singer-songwriters. Last time Oliver Mtukudzi (Zimbabwe) visited Etnosoi! in 2006, he blew the Savoy Theatre's audience away. But what is going to happen when he this time brings also two other African superstars with him to the stage? Habib Koité (Mali) is known for his unique style of guitar playing and Afel Bocoum (Mali) has worked among others in cooperation with Damon Albarn.
On Thursday (11th November) Savoy Theatre's stage transforms into a dance house as Ensemble Ferenc SebÅ‘ gets on the stage. Ferenc SebÅ‘ is known as one of the Hungarian Dance-House Movement's leaders in the 70's. SebÅ‘ Ensemble's first album had a great impact on the youth of those days and soon it started to symbolize the whole movement. For over 30 years now the movement has operated as a bridge builder between Eastern and Western Europe by laying stress on the importance of the peaceful cohabitation between nations. Ensemble Ferenc SebÅ‘ plays mainly self gathered authentic folk music from the area of modern Hungary and its neighbor countries. The relatedness of Turkish kemençe and kanun and Finnish jouhikko (Finnish bowed lyre) and kantele is investigated in the means of music in a concert, where the virtuoso masters of these instruments Göksel Baktagir, Timo Väänänen, Derya Türkan and Ilkka Heinonen perform.
Sunday's concert will be held in Malmitalo, with folk music group Samo from Tajikistan. Samo's visit to Finland is linked to latest cultural development cooperation project of the Global Music Centre.
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Following the annual habit, there will be also clubs, lectures and Etnosoi! for children.
ETNOSOI! has brought us music to listen to from almost all the populated parts of the world. You are most welcome to take a look at the list of ETNOSOI! performers throughout the festival's history. The main sponsors of ETNOSOI! are the City of Helsinki and the Ministry of Education and Culture. ETNOSOI! is one of the founder members of the European Forum of Worldwide Music Festivals (EFWMF) -organization.