Concertina City

Concertina City features modern arrangements of Irish and Nordic folk music for the hexagonal concertina and traditional instruments. Between the music, stories unfold where mystical instruments, melodies, and people interweave into a living culture.

The concertina is one of the earliest accordions - developed by English Sir Charles Wheatstone in 1829. The compact instrument became a folk instrument that transcended age and gender boundaries, easily portable for travel. Lauri Häme has journeyed with his concertina from Helsinki through Ireland to the Dingle Peninsula, where he deepened his understanding of the instrument's essence under the guidance of concertina master Cormac Begley. Irish jigs, reels, and slides meet the concert's northern boreal folk music.