Sans / UK/Finland/Australia/Armenia

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The beautiful, melancholic and spiritual music, created by artists from different parts of the world who prove that creating art connecting seemingly distant traditions is definitely possible.

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Sans is a quartet comprising artists, who are already well-known to the international audiences and Polish lovers of folk, ethno and world music. The band comprises Andrew Cronshaw, multi-instrumentalist (zither, fujara, Chinese ba-wu flute, Finnish kantele and marovantele), Sanna Kurki-Suonio, an outstanding Finnish vocalist, Ian Blake from Australia, playing wind instruments (clarinet, saxophone) and Tigran Aleksanyan from Armenia, master of the art of playing duduk, one of the most beautiful wind instruments.

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The band was founded by musicians who had met during the recording of The Unbroken Surface of Snow by Andrew Cronshaw. Their music combines in a surprising harmony the elements of ancient Finnish songs from Karelia (the echoes of which can be also heard in Kalevala), the beautiful Armenian melodies and British folk songs. By using a unique combination of instruments and threads, the artists create a distinct kind of music, very beautiful and coherent.

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After one festival, a reviewer of worldmusic.co.uk wrote: “They led us into the dark of night with their ethereal beauty. Everything was almost ideal - the music of the night, like a nightly raga and the way the music fit into the time, place and our state of mind.... Absolutely, absolutely beautiful.” We can expect such emotions in Krakow in July.

Members of the group:

Andrew Cronshaw (The United Kingdom) – electric zither, fujara, marovantele, kantele, ba-wu
Sanna Kurki-Suonio (Finland) – vocals
Tigran Aleksanyan (Armenia) – duduk
Ian Blake (The United Kingdom/Australia) – bass clarinet, soprano saxophone

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The concert took place in 2016.