FFTC and FACA to Merge!
The Finlandia Foundation Twin Cities (FFTC) board is pleased and excited to share with you the plans underway for the merger of FFTC and Finnish American Cultural Activities (FACA). The two groups have collaborated and organized events for the Twin Cities Finnish community for more than a year, building on their similar missions and interests. FACA members unanimously approved plans for the merger at their March program.
Klaus Mäkelä, 28-Year-Old Finnish Conductor, to Lead Chicago Symphony
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which has been led for decades by conducting titans including Georg Solti, Daniel Barenboim and Riccardo Muti, announced Tuesday that its next music director would be Klaus Mäkelä, a 28-year-old Finnish conductor whose charisma and clarity have fueled his rapid rise in classical music.
What I Discovered About Happiness in Finland
I’d gotten incredulous questions from more than a few people before coming here. Northern Finland? In January? Really? [I] wondered how a country known for pickled herring and the wild vacillations between light and darkness could really be the happiest on earth.
Finnish immigrants bring the sauna to Minnesota
Sauna has been practiced for centuries in Finland, and Finnish immigrants to the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries did not want to leave sauna behind. Such was the case with the Barberg-Selvälä-Salmonson sauna in Cokato, Minnesota — the oldest savusauna, or smoke sauna, still existing in Minnesota and likely in the United States.