Finnish Heritage Society Presents Poetry & Music

1970 Chestnut Street,Berkeley CA 94702

28 August, 2022

Description

Finnish Heritage Society presents an afternoon of poetry and music as part of the monthly Cultural Performance Series at the Berkeley Finnish Hall 1970 Chestnut St (University Ave). This performance will present six poets, two musicians and original visual art Seating is limited to accommodate social distancing. Masks and proof of vaccination are required to attend in person. PROGRAM Poetry and music with: Anita Erola, Carl Macki, Johanna Rauhala, Heikki Koskinen, Richard Hourula, Signe Mattson, Rent Romus, Terri Shull About the Artists: Anita Erola is from Lahti, Finland, and has lived in the Bay Area since age 10. She has always loved words, and that love became quite interesting when she had to learn a whole set of new ones at a young age. Her writing has appeared in numerous anthologies, and both her writing and photography have won awards. She is looking forward to the end of the pandemic, sharing her written word at open mic events again, and traveling, especially to Finland when the days are long, and the lake water is warm. Richard Hourula is a native of Berkeley born to Finnish parents. He has been a teacher for thirty-five years. He is also an active blogger and writer. One of his blogs covers a variety of topics, including films, mental health, current events and humor. His other blog features his poetry. Richard has self-published two novels, the second of which, Threat of Night (Yön Uhka) is set in Berkeley’s Finnish-American community on the eve of U.S. entry into World War II. Heikki Koskinen has been a key musical figure in the Bay Area jazz and Finnish music communities. Chosen in "Rytmi" magazine critics polls as Finland's top jazz trumpet player in the 1970's. He left his native Finland to study jazz at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston in 1973. He later moved to San Francisco in 1977. Koskinen is the recipient of several Finnish composing grants, recorded several albums, and won awards as an innovative children's music teacher. In September 2019 Heikki received Finnish Music Archive’s “Jazz Legend #34” Award.  Carl Macki Lives in the Shoreline neighborhood next to Tennessee Valley and Tamalpais Junction in Marin County. Born in Chicago and lived there and in the north woods of Minnesota the first part of my life. Graduate of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Formerly active in the Marin Poetry Center and poetry series at Copperfield’s Books in Petaluma. Currently web designer with the Petaluma Poetry Walk. Signe Mattson was born 1939 to mother from Narpio and father whose parents came from there. Graduate of UC Berkeley. Taught English two years in Nigeria and 28 in Berkeley. Have written journals for about 60 years, turning some recent bits into poetry. Johanna Rauhala was a peer coach and middle school teacher until a disability forced her into early retirement. She’s been published by the National Education Association, the George Lucas Education Foundation, Mothers Always Write magazine, Alternating Currents Magazine, and was a finalist in the now defunct Kippis Magazine’s poetry contest. She has an M. A. in English from San Francisco State University and participates in a writing group with poet Thomas Centolella.  Rent Romus is a third generation Finnish-American saxophonist/multi-instrumentalist, composer, bandleader, music producer, and community activist.He leads the Lords of Outland a free improvisation unit, the Life’s Blood Ensemble a composition based contemporary group, and the Otherworld Ensemble a Finnish/American collective exploring new perspectives in heritage and traditional folk. He has recorded over 50 albums exploring a wide variety of musical settings which have included beat poet founder ruth weiss, and creative music pioneers Chico Freeman, John Tchicai, and Vinny Golia, Teppo Hauta-aho, and Heikki Koskinen. Terri Shull is a published poet and fiction writer, a dog-sitter, craftier and a retired Speech Therapist. She is a fan of: Rilke, Sexton and Bukowski. She and her husband Travis live in Santa Rosa with their two rescue dogs, Lovey, a Tibetan Spaniel mix, and Dolly, a Maltese-Toy Poodle mix.  TICKETS - $15 General, $10 Student/Senior Art by by Ethel Laine