Photo: Eeva Anundi

Tellu Turkka (born 1969 at Jämsänkoski, maiden name Paulasto, former name Virkkala).

Tellu Turkka is one of Finland’s most important female composers. She was born into a musical family where she inherited a strong tradition of group singing and playing.

She played violin in the Jyväskylä Conservatory since 1978, she went to Senior High School in Savonlinna Taidelukio (1985-88) where she was already playing in Takamus (Taidelukion kansanmusiikkiorkesteri), the folk music group of the school.

In 1989 she entered the Folk music department of Sibelius Academy studying violin playing. In 1990 she was asked to join in the Swedish group Hedningarna with whom she was playing and singing until 1996. She spent also some time in Norway studying the traditional Hardanger-violin with Ånon Egeland and Salve Austenå. Back in Finland she continued her studies, now majoring in singing and in 1996 she published her first solo project, a poetic fairytale in the old Finnish oral poetic tradition called Suden Aika. The record was chosen as the Folk Music album of the Year. The Suden Aika quartet was performing in all the Nordic countries and in Portugal between 1996-98.

Tellu has also performed with groups Jäykkä Leipä (now called Loituma), Tallari and Luna Nova and as a duo with Liisa Matveinen in the Mateli project and she rejoined the Hedningarna for the years 2001-03. She has been performing in all Nordic countries as well as in Greenland, Belgium, France, Great Britain, Spain, Holland, Czech Republic and several times in Germany. In 1998 she performed in the Aino play adapted by Ruth McKenzie in the Minneapolis Guthrie Theater.

For the main part, Tellu is a singer- songwriter but she is also a multi-instrumentalist. She is the first Finnish player to master the Swedish Mora-harp.

Her career as a composer in the Finnish oral poetic tradition and choir music began with the project Suden Aika. The project was adapted for a female choir in 1998. Since then she has composed several choir works for female and children’s choirs, for example: Minne kauneus katosi? And Mehiläinen in 2002, both works were ordered by Sulasol.

Now Tellu lives in Tampere, raising two children and composing, singing and playing. Tellu left Suden aika in 2008 to concentrate on her work as a composer.

Contact Tellu at telluturkka@yahoo.com