In-person

Interplay with Ailloš

2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.5707

Join us as we welcome Ailloš and guests for a 90 minute concert!

Iŋgor Ántte Áilu Gaup (artist name: Ailloš) has been yoiking as long as he can remember. The yoik is the traditional form of Sámi song; it has its own musical rules and a deep connection to nature and all living beings. Ailloš will share both traditional and new yoiks, which have fused with different genres of music as yoik became popular within world and folk music in the late 20th century. For the very first time, Ailloš will be joined by musicians of the Pacific Northwest. Crossing geographical, cultural, and stylistic borders, Ailloš is looking forward to the moment when yoik meets Indigenous music of the Pacific Northwest and the classical music of Europe.

Ailloš will be joined by several special guests, including members of Pacific Sami Searvi.

Amy E. Swanson, Stephen Swanson, Jeanne Bourgeois, Eileen Swanso are also expected to perform with Ailloš on:

Hot Canary by Paul Nero
Tanz by Penderecki
Tango by Piazzola
Duet, BWV 804 by J.S.Bach
Shenandoah/Roll On Columbia, Traditional

The National Nordic Museum wishes to thank 4Culture, Mari-Ann Kind Jackson, and our anonymous donors for their support of this program.

Featuring

Ailloš

Ailloš grew up in a reindeer-herding family in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) on the Norwegian side of Sapmi, which is the traditional Sami area, encompassing northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. As a child, he lived in a goahti, a traditional Sami dwelling somewhat like a tepee. Today, reindeer herders no longer live year-round in goahtis, so Ailloš belongs to the last generation that had the privilege of growing up in a goahti.
Bio

Ailloš

Ailloš grew up in a reindeer-herding family in Guovdageaidnu (Kautokeino) on the Norwegian side of Sapmi, which is the traditional Sami area, encompassing northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. As a child, he lived in a goahti, a traditional Sami dwelling somewhat like a tepee. Today, reindeer herders no longer live year-round in goahtis, so Ailloš belongs to the last generation that had the privilege of growing up in a goahti.

In the 1970s he formed his own rock band, Ivnniiguin, which is considered to be tshe first band with original Sami rock music. In 1981, he helped launch the Sami National Theatre Beaivvaš, based in Guovdageaidnu, which uses North Sami as its primary performance language. Beaivvaš has toured extensively around the world and will visit the Pacific Northwest in 2024. In 1999, Ailloš was awarded the Aillohaš musikkpris, given to Sami musicians who have made significant contributions to Sami music. In 2003, he was awarded Nordlysprisen, which honors achievement among musicians and composers in northern Norway.

Ailloš has been steeped since childhood in the Sami joik tradition. Considered one of the world's oldest musical forms, joik is a vocal technique ranging from chant to melody, and is deeply meaningful: It is intended to capture the essence of a person or thing, to serve as a signature or identity mark, to remember or stay close to someone who is not present. It is often said that one does not joik about someone; instead, one joiks them. Ailloš has toured the world as a joiker, composing music for - and acting in - theater and television productions in such countries as Norway, Germany and the United States. Ailloš is also a sought-after joik teacher, leading both in-person and online classes.