EFN Newsletter January 2025 #38
- EFN editor
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Tell us something: aren’t you following us on social media yet? You’re missing out on a lot! We’re very active on Facebook and Instagram.
In this first edition of the year, we hope you have started the year very well and that it brings you great happiness and success.
WELCOME AND SUMMARY
Welcome to the new edition of this communication and outreach initiative of the EFN. Feel free to forward it to your friends and colleagues. Receiving this newsletter is open to anyone for free, here. Read to the end to find out how to submit content for future editions.
This is what you'll find below:
🔹News from EFN:
▫️REMINDER: EFN and members, in Babel Music XP: special opportunity
🔸News from the members:
▫️Call for Artists: new Artist Mentoring Programme;
▫️Survey run by Arts Infopoint UK, from Wales Arts International
🔹Our next featured member is Musik over Præstø Fjord, from Denmark
🔸Our next featured artist is the Swedish band Hedningarna
✍️ Do you want to participate? At the end of the newsletter you will find how you can contribute to future editions, whether you are an EFN member or not.
And of course EFN is always looking for new members and at the end of this newsletter there is a note about how and why to join, with links to the membership pages of the website and the application form.
News from EFN
🔸EFN and members, in Babel Music XP: special opportunity
REMINDER
A few editions ago we shared these words from Olivier Rey, founder of Babel Music XP: “In a world torn between rampant globalization and the resurgence of identity-based retreats with ominous destinies, it is never in vain to affirm that traditions and heritage are anchors that tell the stories of territories, peoples, and their ever-evolving cultures. Today more than ever, traditional music needs platforms for visibility and exchange — to express its uniqueness, its intertwined and joyful identities, in the face of homogenization and a world increasingly governed by algorithms.”
Babel Music XP will take place in Marseille, 19-21 March 2026. The organization has agreed to provide an opportunity for EFN members to attend the expo and showcases at special discount prices – and EFN will give members a chance to share the EFN expo stand for a small contribution to overall costs.
In addition, EFN and our partners Zone Franche will organise a special joint event during the expo.
➡️ Are you interested in learning more but are not yet an EFN member? Get in touch with us with us SOON. The deadline for formalising the participation of our members through the EFN is 30th January
News from the members
🔹Call for Artists: new Artist Mentoring Programme
By Sára Venczel, Communication Lead, Hangvető
We are pleased to announce the launch of the new Artist Mentoring Programme, a collaboration between UPBEAT and the European Music Managers Alliance (EMMA), co-funded by the European Union. The programme supports emerging European artists in the world/global music field by pairing them with experienced music industry professionals for up to 10 months. Each mentoring pair will work on a tailored, in-depth career plan, offering practical guidance, strategic insight, and clear development goals. Selected artists will also benefit from increased visibility through UPBEAT’s promotional channels.
We are looking for emerging European talents who wish to grow their careers in the music industry.
Application deadline: 21 January 2026.
For more information and to apply, click here.
🔹Calling all artists and arts organisations: survey run by Arts Infopoint UK
News received from Siwan Dafydd, Wales Arts International
We want to hear your views on working with partners across the UK and Europe. Arts Infopoint UK is conducting a survey to understand how artists and arts organisations in the UK and the EU are working with each other currently; the impact of the UK’s non-membership of EU funding programmes; changes to artist mobility; and other barriers or opportunities arising from the UK’s exit from the EU.
This survey should take no longer than 10 minutes to complete in total and we encourage all artists and arts organisations to respond to tell us if you have participated in Creative Europe or other EU funding programmes in the past; if you are currently working on an UK/EU project or collaboration – or if you are looking to do so in the future.
Please share with your networks. The closing date for responses is 30 January 2026.
Access to the survey, here
More info about Arts Infopoint, here
Featured Member: Musik over Præstø Fjord (Denmark)
Musik over Præstø Fjord joined the EFN in October 2019 and they already attended the first ever EFN annual conference in November 2019 in Brussels. When they joined, they presented themselves like this:
"Our non-profit organization arranges Nordic Folk Festival 4 days in August every year. 4 stages with prof. folk music. Dancing, singing, playing, lots of jam in a backyard in the beautiful countryside one hour south of Copenhagen. Concerts, workshops, bonfire, starswarm, magic atmosphere, hygge..."
About the question on what you can give to the European Folk Network as a member and what you think will be the benefits of membership, her answer was: "We must share and therefore we welcome all folk festival-organizers to write us a mail and get on the guestlist to participate."
Learn more on their website.
Featured Artist: Hedningarna
By Araceli Tzigane
As I started looking for photos of Hedningarna, I was surprised to see that there aren’t any on Wikipedia. They don’t have a Facebook page. Nor an Instagram account. They don’t have a YouTube channel either. The domain hedningarna.net has expired. The content that used to be on that website can still be consulted on Archive.org. It made me feel a bit sad. I don’t know about other countries, but in Spain this group was hugely famous.
The picture above is from Discogs.
I think I’ve already talked in this section about a Radio 3–RNE programme that used to play certain albums every day, almost always the same songs, in fact. Hedningarna had several of those albums. They came to perform many times.
I’m listening again to some of the pieces I liked the most: Vargtimmen, Tina Vieri, Joupolle Joutunut, Aivoton… They still captivate me, with that combination of Nordic darkness, the sweet voices of the Finnish singers and a slightly theatrical attitude… By the way, one of those Finnish singers who collaborated with Hedningarna was Sanna Kurki-Suonio, who was our featured artist in this edition of the newsletter: June 2023.
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According to Visarkiv, on one of the tunes, Tuuli (Wind), from the album Trä, "Hedningarna make use of sampled material from the Swedish Broadcasting Corporation’s recordings of Sami singing (yoik), adding fragments of “Prästpigans jojk” (The priest’s maid’s yoik) by Thomas Ponga (1920-57) as part of the accompaniment to the song. As an extra nicety, the Finnish Sami singer Wimme Saari (who like Thomas Ponga has roots in the North Sami village of Karesuando) takes part in the recording with a spontaneous “yoik improvisation”. I selected this piece also because it is the one who more views on Youtube:
So, this is a bio based on the website in Archive.org.
Hedningarna were formed in 1987 by Hållbus Totte Mattsson, Björn Tollin and Anders Norudde (then known as Anders Stake). After early work in theatre and the release of their first album in 1989, the band established a long collaboration with Silence Records in the early 1990s and expanded their sound with Finnish singers Sanna Kurki-Suonio and Tellu Paulasto.
Their breakthrough came with the album “Kaksi!” in 1992, which won a Swedish Grammis and sold over 35,000 copies. Success continued with “Trä” in 1994, including a major performance at Roskilde Festival. Throughout the mid and late 1990s, Hedningarna toured extensively across Scandinavia, Europe, Spain and later the United States, releasing key albums such as “Hippjokk” (1997) and “Karelia – Visa” (1999).
The band went through several line-up changes over the years, with different singers and musicians joining and leaving. From the early 2000s onward, Hedningarna continued touring widely in Europe, Scandinavia and the US, releasing a compilation in 2003 and remaining active through festivals and new material development.
By 2009, after tours in Spain, Portugal and Sweden, the band began working again on material for a new album, marking a renewed creative phase after several years without major releases. This is the last information from that website.
In other of the pages of the website they say that: "The band broke through in Spain with a huge impact as early as 1997 and has since performed countless concerts across the Iberian Peninsula as well as throughout the rest of Europe and the United States, while the folk-rock scene has completely collapsed in Sweden." Yeah, at that time there were people who were trendsetters or opinion leaders, and that they had a strong impact on the market.
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Täss'on Nainen (here's a woman)
Here is a woman, brought by the wind,
Brought by wind, pulled by water,
Driven by sea billows,
Wrought by sea-storm.
Check the full lyrics translated into English, here.
I haven’t found a reliable source that proves a direct connection between these lyrics and the characters of Ilmatar or Väinämöinen from the Kalevala, beyond comments from AIs claiming that this poetry follows the metre of that epic collection from the XIX century. So I invite any expert who might want to shed light on the matter. In the meantime, enjoy the piece live. It’s a marvel.
Did you enjoy any of these? Then, follow us on Facebook and Instagram and show this to anybody who could appreciate it.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS NEWSLETTER
Are you already a member? Then, remember that you can submit contents for this monthly newsletter. Email your content to efneditors@gmail.com, for these sections:
· News from EFN Members. Brief announcements – of around 100 words and a link.
· Featured artist. - A profile with around 200 words, an embedded video and one link. Members are invited to submit profiles, considering solo and ensemble living or not living artists who have achieved lifelong artistic and technical quality or historical significance in the field of folk art from or developed in or settled in Europe. If you have any artists in mind that you'd like to feature, please ask in advance, just to be sure there is no other member already doing it.
And whether you are a member or not, you can participate in this section:
· Special sections. For instance, an interview with someone from an institution that is not a member or a thematic article by a guest writer or anything that can appear and be considered as interesting. This section can also host guest writers that are not members.
If you'd like to share any content, contact us in advance to schedule it by emailing efneditors@gmail.com
Of course, self promotional articles lacking interest won't be accepted. In case of doubt, the EFN board will be consulted and will decide.
BECOMING A MEMBER?
EFN membership is growing rapidly – why not join the network of traditional arts organisers and artists that stretches across Europe from the Irish Sea to the Baltic, the Mediterranean to the Black Sea? Find out more about membership and download an application form from www.europeanfolknetwork.com/membership.
DO YOU WANT TO SUPPORT EFN MORE?
The EFN welcomes donations. We do a lot with little money. Imagine what we can do with a little more :) Let us know how much you want to donate and we'll issue an invoice for your organization.
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