23/09/2025
Renowned Finnish violinist, composer, and ethnomusicologist TUOMAS ROUNAKARI has announced his special events for this autumn!
Tuomas shared:
Dear friends!
I've had one of the best summers, sailing, spending time alone in the open sea, playing and performing out in the nature. Between July 15th and Aug 31st, all my performances took place outdoors, in the forests and on the rivers. Last but not least, I performed together with a legendary singer Sainkho Namtchylak from Tuva, and now we are planning an album together! And I can't thank you enough, who came to see us perform with Yasuharu Takanashi's Far East Groove for the very first time in Helsinki, Cartagena and Milano.
But now for the future! Most special events are taking place in the Czech Republic this November!
I will give my first full evening solo concert in Czech Republic in years. And what a location!
The concert will take place in Ostrava, 6th of November at the Dul Michal, an old coal-mine turned into a museum, with an incredible space for concerts. The tickets are coming to sale soon! The hall fits approx 200 people.
Before the concert we are doing a 4-day retreat on laments with Alexandra Derwen from Nov 1st to November 4th in the beautiful Paběnický mlýn. The retreat is called The Alchemy of lament - a Pathway to liberation. Our guiding philosophy comes from C.G.Jung's observation on how our greatest treasures lie next to our deepest wounds. Lament can be a portal, from fear and pain, towards our highest potential and purpose in life.
Places are limited and booking has started. Half of the spots are already filled! For more info and registration, go to: https://www.ksmrtidobryfestival.cz/the-alchemy-of-lament/
And that's not all for Czech!
From Nov 7th to 9th, together with Alexandra, we will be hosting opening and closing ceremonies for the festival K Smrti Dobry Festival in Ostrava. I will also give a lecture, small concert and a workshop there.
K Smrti Dobry Festival is a unique festival about death, where death is not a taboo, but it is bringing more closeness of hearts. It is a celebration of death and death doulas, hospice workers and all that are experiencing loss through the dying. This festival is about care, difficult farewells, importance of presence, emotions that can't be bypassed and gratitude to life. Seeing death as a teacher.
Find out more in here: https://www.ksmrtidobryfestival.cz/
Later in November, laments, animism and eco-spirituality are taking me back to Denmark. This time to Aalborg University. Hosting a lecture and workshop here:
Lamenting the Planet: Grief, Art, and Care in a Time of Ecological Crisis: https://www.ssh.aau.dk/lamenting-the-planet-grief-art-and-care-in-a-time-of-ecological-crisis-e143554
Before all this, I will be performing in Pakanafestarit – Paganfest, in Espoo, Finland on October 11th! There too, a lecture and workshop on laments will take place alongside my solo concert!
And for those who can still digest more info, The Bear Awakens retreat in Wales (UK) is happening again on March 20th to 22nd (3 nights) at the gorgeous Ty Sanctaidd ceremony space at Trefacwn. I'm so grateful that this retreat has become an annual tradition!
Although it is next year, the places are already going. For more info and registering contact Alexandra Derwen at [email protected]
Hope to see you all somewhere down the road! Another newsletter on the spring 2026 concerts and workshops will arrive in about a month.
Wishing the very best for all of you!
Tuomas
More information on Tuomas:
Tuomas Rounakari is a Finnish violinist, composer, and ethnomusicologist known for his trance-inducing solo performances that blend violin, vocals, stomping, and ankle bells into a visceral one-man ritual. A former member of Korpiklaani (2012–2022) and collaborator in Yasuharu Takanashi’s Far East Groove, Tuomas also plays the traditional Khanty bowed instrument Ning-juh.
His doctoral research (2024) focuses on altered states of consciousness through music—a phenomenon tied to sacred song traditions worldwide. This inquiry informs his performance style, which often crosses into trance and ceremony.
Tuomas draws inspiration from dialogues between humanity and nature, the visible and invisible, the ancient and the future. His debut solo album Shamanviolin was born from studying early 20th-century wax-cylinder recordings from Siberia. Performing these songs with the Indigenous communities from which they originated led to long-term collaborations with Khanty, Mansi, Sámi, and Greenlandic artists.
With over 30 albums to his name—including two solo records and four with Korpiklaani (over 34 million Spotify streams annually)—his work spans folk, metal, blues, free jazz, and avant-garde electroacoustic soundscapes.
His latest solo album, Bear Awakener (2022), is a sonic invocation, an awakening of the wild spirit within. Each track stirs ancient memory, calling forth the slumbering forces of nature, myth, and spirit.
The album centers on bear-related ceremonial songs from Khanty, Mansi, Carelian, and Finnish traditions. These songs carry the resonance of ancestors who lived in deep, reciprocal relationships with the land—cultures rooted in sustainability, self-sufficiency, and sacred balance. For Tuomas, they are living teachings, not just songs.
Rooted in ancestral songlines and shaped by trance, Bear Awakener invites listeners into deeper dialogue with the unseen, the more-than-human, and the mythic. It is a reawakening of spirit and a reconnection to something older than memory, yet urgently needed in our time.
Also watch
--Tuomas' performance video, a throwback to Tokyo 2017, from the materials of 'Live in Japan' documentary by Kimmo Kuusniemi: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g718diJlW1s
--'Farewell of Kamas People' - https://youtu.be/oV16Qipd0MQ
--'Langetus' - https://youtu.be/HVsU7PTqqHY
More information at
TUOMAS ROUNAKARI: www.rounakari.com | www.facebook.com/shamanviolin | https://rounakari.bandcamp.com
MANAGEMENT: https://www.facebook.com/SplitScreenManagement | http://www.splitscreenproduction.com
