Milla Viljamaa

I was born in 1980 in Kerava. I first studied classical piano, but inspired by a folk music course, I became interested in free accompaniment and tämmääminen, which means providing the beat to folk musicians with a harmonium. The course acted as a catalyst for my first folk music band.

The joy of playing in a group and the freedom provided by folk music made me apply to the Junior Academy programme of the Sibelius Academy where I started to study folk music in 1997. A couple of years later I continued my studies as a proper student of the Department of Folk Music. My main instruments are piano, foot-pumped harmonium, my minor subjects singing and African thumb piano, gogomarimba.

My musical past extends over different genres, ranging from folk music from different countries to classical music, from tango nuevo to pop and rock. I have always been interested in music theory and studied the theory of classical music, jazz and folk music.

I have worked as a musician, composer, lyric writer and arranger in a variety of musical and theatre productions. My bands include Duo Milla Viljamaa & Johanna Juhola, the trio Las Chicas Del Tango and Hereä which plays Scandinavian World Music. I have performed both solo and with different bands in Belgium, Bosnia, China, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Russia and Sweden besides in Finland.

My home page: www.millaviljamaa.com