THE GROUP
Kuvaja, a vocal ensemble founded in Helsinki in 2017, is becoming well known in Finland and beyond for heartfelt performances of a wide variety of mainly homemade a cappella arrangements. The ensemble’s five members, professional musicians with diverse backgrounds as soloists, music pedagogues, and arrangers, are united by their experience of music as a healing force. This core belief sets Kuvaja apart from other vocal groups, reflecting the ensemble’s unique sound and providing a deeply personal motive to its music-making.
Anni-Kaisa Haukka
is a singer, choir director and music educator (MM) originally from Iisalmi, living in Helsinki. Anni-Kaisa graduated from the Sibelius Academy majoring in music education, specializing in choral conducting and free accompaniment pedagogy of the piano. Anni-Kaisa works as a music teacher and artistic director of the mixed choir Vola.
Anna Gallo
is a singer, choir leader and pedagogue (MM) from Mikkeli, currently active in Lyon, France. Anna graduated from the Sibelius Academy with a master's degree in both music education and choral conducting. Anna is a multi-professional in vocal music and pedagogy and works as the artistic director of the Women's Choir Elegia, Haloa and the Turku University Choir.
Joona Vallenius
is a singer and musician from Espoo (MM). Apart from Kuvaja, Joona performs around the country alone with his guitar, with his covertrio J-Men as well as in singer-songwriter Juhani Tikkanen's band. In addition to this, in recent years he has also been seen several times in the ranks of such groups as Club For Five and Uusi Kipparikvartetti.
Laura Vallenius
is a singer and music educator from Espoo. He has taught singing, singing pedagogy and music didactics, e.g. Sibelius Academy and Savonia University of Applied Sciences. Laura is currently doing her postgraduate studies at the MuTri doctoral school of the Sibelius Academy and teaches music didactics as a lesson teacher at the University of Helsinki. She is also the founder of Äänikauppa and the host of Ääniystävä-podcast.
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Aleksi Vasko
is a singer and music educator living in Helsinki. He graduated as a music subject teacher (FM) from the University of Jyväskylä and works as a music teacher at Meilahti Middle School in Helsinki, leads the gay choir Out'n loud and sings in the vocal group The Friends of Dorothy. In addition to vocal music, Aleksi plays the cello in various ensembles.