Arja Koriseva
Encyclopedia
Arja Sinikka Koriseva is an award-winning Finnish singer. She first came to fame as a tango
singer; now her repertoire includes evergreens, Finnish pop, musical theatre, and sacred music.
During her career, Koriseva has sold over 330,000 certified records, which makes her the seventh-best-selling female soloist in Finland.
Arja says of the village school she attended:
“The school was very small and homey. My class had just three pupils. We were good in different subjects and we learned a lot from each other. Because we were so few, the classes were joined so that the first and second were together, the third and forth similarly, and so on. During the breaks we went swimming; on Shrove Tuesday
we tobogganed. The cook baked pulla
buns and brought them to us with juice as a snack. In fine weather we had lessons outside and when it was raining we did sums in class. Once a storm blew down a birch tree in the school yard. We made firewood from it and carried it inside.” (Nyman, p.51)
Arja comes from a musical family: her parents were both active in the church choir, and the harmonikka player Erkki Friman is Arja’s maternal uncle (The Finnish harmonikka is not a mouth organ. It is a kind of accordion
, with symmetrically arranged buttons instead of piano keys. It is not the same instrument as a bandoneon
).
Arja and her sister Eija (born 31 October 1963, and a very popular singer in her own right) sang with the Peräkylä Boys band in youth hostels, holiday camps, restaurants and various other places in central Finland from 1978. When the Peräkylä Boys broke up to continue their studies, Eija and Arja got a new band, Kastanja (“Chestnut”).
Note that Arja's sister Eija is not the same Eija Koriseva who is professor of mathematics at the University of Helsinki
.
In 1983 Arja was admitted to the Central Finland Conservatory to study singing.
In the summer of 1984 Arja was a Lions Club scholarship student in Wilmar near Minneapolis in the USA. She returned after three years for a summer with the same family. She says of this time:
“The family was quite wonderful and treated me like their own daughter. The father acted as teacher in the agricultural school and farmed maize. On the second visit I already had a driving licence and got the use of an old pick-up. I woke up early in the morning, put on a long-sleeved shirt and drove to the edge of the field to gather corncobs. In the field I prepared and packed them in dozens in cartons, then I had a shower and drove the corncobs to the shops. I could keep the money from the sales.” (Nyman, p 54)
This is a very appropriate job for a future tango star, as the classic tango El Choclo, written by Ángel Villoldo
in 1903, means "the corncob". Meanwhile Kastanja became the backing group for Marjo-Riitta Nieminen, who sings under the stage name Marjorie.
In 1985 Arja enrolled in the Hämeenlinna
teacher training college and qualified in 1989, specialising in Finnish language and PE.
In the spring of 1989, with the encouragement of her mother, Arja entered for the Tangomarkkinat
tango singing competition. She engaged a new orchestra, Fortuna, and began to rehearse the tangos Kultaiset korvarenkaat and Vie meidät rakkauteen. These are not in fact Finnish tangos: the first is Golden Earrings
, composed by Victor Young
and the theme song of the film of the same name, the second is Tango d´Amour, by Leo Leandros
.
After passing the preliminary heats, she did not apply for a permanent teaching post, but did apply for a temporary post in case she was not successful at the Tangomarkkinat finals.
But, dressed in a stage gown made by her sister Eija, she became Tango Queen at her first attempt and turned the Tangomarkkinat
from a local festival to an event of national importance. The Tangomarkkinat organisers tried to get her to adopt the stage name Arja Karen, as koriseva means "wheezing" in Finnish.
Since then she has recorded 15 albums (up to September 2007), and appeared in concerts and at dance halls all over Finland, as well as Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Jordan, and the UK. She has sung sacred music in church concerts, and appeared with Belgian superstar Helmut Lotti
. She appears frequently on Finnish TV: she has guested on the musical game show BumtsiBum!
several times; she and Joel Hallikainen presented the musical game show Jos sais kerran in 2002-2003; and she was the heroine in the children's programme Hilarius and Loru-Liisa, with a giant mouse. She was the Finnish voice of Pocahontas
in the animated film and TV series of that name. She has appeared in the soap opera Prince of Pop and in Ready Steady Cook
. She has returned to the Tangomarkkinat several times as judge, and presented it in 1991, 1994, and 2004. The spectacular Eyes of an Angel concert of 1999 was broadcast on national TV. She has attempted four times to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest
(1991, 1992, 1993, 2004), but has never been selected.
She has also appeared on stage: she was Liza in "My Fair Lady
" and Maria in "Sound of Music". The run of the latter had to be cut short because Arja was 8 months pregnant: it made no difference to the story.
college. At the time they were both going out with other people, and they did not get together until Juha-Pekka moved to Jyväskylä
to study special needs teaching. They were engaged in 1993 and married on 20 July 1996. Their children are: Patrik (born 5 August 1995), Karla Sol Angel (born 20 July 2001 in Colombia, adopted), and Verna Luna Gunilla (born 8 November 2006). The pair are very protective of their children's privacy, and never talk about them to the papers or allow their photographs to be published.
´s poem Arja and Selinä of 1916; but the Arja in the poem is a boy. The Finns soon decided that Arja was more suitable as a girl's name. The -a ending is of no significance: the Finnish language has no genders, not even for people. There is a Russian name, variously transliterated as Arija, Arja, and Ara, which is a variant of Ariadne. Arja was most popular as a girl's name between 1940 and 1965. Other famous Arjas from this period are Arja Saijonmaa
(b. 1944), Arja Havakka (b. 1944), and Arja Sipola (b. 1956).
Downloads
Theatre
Finnish tango
Finnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango and one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland. Brought to Europe in the 1910s by travelling musicians, Finns began to take up the form and write their own tangos in the 1930s...
singer; now her repertoire includes evergreens, Finnish pop, musical theatre, and sacred music.
During her career, Koriseva has sold over 330,000 certified records, which makes her the seventh-best-selling female soloist in Finland.
“The school was very small and homey. My class had just three pupils. We were good in different subjects and we learned a lot from each other. Because we were so few, the classes were joined so that the first and second were together, the third and forth similarly, and so on. During the breaks we went swimming; on Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday
Shrove Tuesday is a term used in English-speaking countries, especially in Ireland, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Germany, and parts of the United States for the day preceding Ash Wednesday, the first day of the season of fasting and prayer called Lent.The...
we tobogganed. The cook baked pulla
Pulla
Pulla is a mildly-sweet Finnish dessert bread flavored with crushed cardamom seeds and occasionally raisins or sliced almonds. Braid loaves are formed from three or more braided strands of dough. The braids may also be formed into a ring. These braided strands or rings are typically coated with...
buns and brought them to us with juice as a snack. In fine weather we had lessons outside and when it was raining we did sums in class. Once a storm blew down a birch tree in the school yard. We made firewood from it and carried it inside.” (Nyman, p.51)
Arja comes from a musical family: her parents were both active in the church choir, and the harmonikka player Erkki Friman is Arja’s maternal uncle (The Finnish harmonikka is not a mouth organ. It is a kind of accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
, with symmetrically arranged buttons instead of piano keys. It is not the same instrument as a bandoneon
Bandoneón
The bandoneón is a type of concertina particularly popular in Argentina and Uruguay. It plays an essential role in the orquesta típica, the tango orchestra...
).
Arja and her sister Eija (born 31 October 1963, and a very popular singer in her own right) sang with the Peräkylä Boys band in youth hostels, holiday camps, restaurants and various other places in central Finland from 1978. When the Peräkylä Boys broke up to continue their studies, Eija and Arja got a new band, Kastanja (“Chestnut”).
Note that Arja's sister Eija is not the same Eija Koriseva who is professor of mathematics at the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
.
In 1983 Arja was admitted to the Central Finland Conservatory to study singing.
In the summer of 1984 Arja was a Lions Club scholarship student in Wilmar near Minneapolis in the USA. She returned after three years for a summer with the same family. She says of this time:
“The family was quite wonderful and treated me like their own daughter. The father acted as teacher in the agricultural school and farmed maize. On the second visit I already had a driving licence and got the use of an old pick-up. I woke up early in the morning, put on a long-sleeved shirt and drove to the edge of the field to gather corncobs. In the field I prepared and packed them in dozens in cartons, then I had a shower and drove the corncobs to the shops. I could keep the money from the sales.” (Nyman, p 54)
This is a very appropriate job for a future tango star, as the classic tango El Choclo, written by Ángel Villoldo
Ángel Villoldo
Ángel Gregorio Villoldo Arroyo was an Argentine musician and one of the pioneers of tango. He was born south of the city of Buenos Aires. He was lyricist, composer and one of the major singers of the era. He is also known by the pseudonyms A. Gregorio, Fray Pimiento, Gregorio Giménez, Angel Arroyo...
in 1903, means "the corncob". Meanwhile Kastanja became the backing group for Marjo-Riitta Nieminen, who sings under the stage name Marjorie.
In 1985 Arja enrolled in the Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the...
teacher training college and qualified in 1989, specialising in Finnish language and PE.
In the spring of 1989, with the encouragement of her mother, Arja entered for the Tangomarkkinat
Tangomarkkinat
The Tangomarkkinat is the world's oldest tango festival. It is held early every July in Seinäjoki, Finland. As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live music provided by the best Finnish entertainers...
tango singing competition. She engaged a new orchestra, Fortuna, and began to rehearse the tangos Kultaiset korvarenkaat and Vie meidät rakkauteen. These are not in fact Finnish tangos: the first is Golden Earrings
Golden Earrings
Golden Earrings is a 1947 romantic spy film made by Paramount Pictures and starring Ray Milland and Marlene Dietrich. It was directed by Mitchell Leisen and produced by Harry Tugend from a screenplay by Frank Butler, Helen Deutsch and Abraham Polonsky, based on a novel by Jolán Földes. The music...
, composed by Victor Young
Victor Young
Victor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
and the theme song of the film of the same name, the second is Tango d´Amour, by Leo Leandros
Leo Leandros
Leo Leandros , is a Greek musician, composer and producer. Born in Astakos, Greece, Leandros left in the 1950s for Germany to pursue a career in singing and composing. He had some success, but shifted his focus to his daughter, Vicky, who had been singing from a very early age and turned out to be...
.
After passing the preliminary heats, she did not apply for a permanent teaching post, but did apply for a temporary post in case she was not successful at the Tangomarkkinat finals.
But, dressed in a stage gown made by her sister Eija, she became Tango Queen at her first attempt and turned the Tangomarkkinat
Tangomarkkinat
The Tangomarkkinat is the world's oldest tango festival. It is held early every July in Seinäjoki, Finland. As well as competitions to find the country's best tango singers, composers, and dancers, the festival features public dancing to live music provided by the best Finnish entertainers...
from a local festival to an event of national importance. The Tangomarkkinat organisers tried to get her to adopt the stage name Arja Karen, as koriseva means "wheezing" in Finnish.
Since then she has recorded 15 albums (up to September 2007), and appeared in concerts and at dance halls all over Finland, as well as Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Jordan, and the UK. She has sung sacred music in church concerts, and appeared with Belgian superstar Helmut Lotti
Helmut Lotti
Helmut Lotti , is a Flemish Belgian tenor and singer-songwriter. Lotti performs in several styles and languages: Once an Elvis impersonator, he has sung African and Latino hit records, and he crossed over into classical music in the 1990s.-Life and music:The son of Luc Lotigiers and Rita Lagrou,...
. She appears frequently on Finnish TV: she has guested on the musical game show BumtsiBum!
BumtsiBum!
BumtsiBum! was a Finnish weekly television game show based on the Irish The Lyrics Board and starred by Marco Bjurström. At best, it was watched by 1.4 million people....
several times; she and Joel Hallikainen presented the musical game show Jos sais kerran in 2002-2003; and she was the heroine in the children's programme Hilarius and Loru-Liisa, with a giant mouse. She was the Finnish voice of Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
in the animated film and TV series of that name. She has appeared in the soap opera Prince of Pop and in Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook
Ready Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...
. She has returned to the Tangomarkkinat several times as judge, and presented it in 1991, 1994, and 2004. The spectacular Eyes of an Angel concert of 1999 was broadcast on national TV. She has attempted four times to represent Finland at the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
(1991, 1992, 1993, 2004), but has never been selected.
She has also appeared on stage: she was Liza in "My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
" and Maria in "Sound of Music". The run of the latter had to be cut short because Arja was 8 months pregnant: it made no difference to the story.
Family
Arja met her future husband Juha-Pekka Karmala in 1985, when they were both studying at HämeenlinnaHämeenlinna
Hämeenlinna is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the...
college. At the time they were both going out with other people, and they did not get together until Juha-Pekka moved to Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä is the capital of Central Finland and the largest city on the Finnish Lakeland, north-east of Tampere and north of Helsinki, on northern coast of lake Päijänne. The city has been continuously one of the most rapidly growing cities in Finland since World War II. The city is surrounded...
to study special needs teaching. They were engaged in 1993 and married on 20 July 1996. Their children are: Patrik (born 5 August 1995), Karla Sol Angel (born 20 July 2001 in Colombia, adopted), and Verna Luna Gunilla (born 8 November 2006). The pair are very protective of their children's privacy, and never talk about them to the papers or allow their photographs to be published.
Name
Arja is a modern made-up Finnish name. It first appears in Eino LeinoEino Leino
Eino Leino was a Finnish poet and journalist and is considered one of the pioneers of Finnish poetry. His poems combine modern and Finnish folk elements. The style of much of his work is like the Kalevala and folk songs. Nature, love, and despair are frequent themes in Leino's work...
´s poem Arja and Selinä of 1916; but the Arja in the poem is a boy. The Finns soon decided that Arja was more suitable as a girl's name. The -a ending is of no significance: the Finnish language has no genders, not even for people. There is a Russian name, variously transliterated as Arija, Arja, and Ara, which is a variant of Ariadne. Arja was most popular as a girl's name between 1940 and 1965. Other famous Arjas from this period are Arja Saijonmaa
Arja Saijonmaa
Arja Enni Helena Saijonmaa is a Finnish singer, political activist and occasional actress.She studied at the Sibelius Academy and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the Helsinki University. She made her breakthrough as a singer in Sweden...
(b. 1944), Arja Havakka (b. 1944), and Arja Sipola (b. 1956).
Discography
Clicking on the links will take you to a description of the album on Finnish WikipediaFinnish Wikipedia
The Finnish Wikipedia is the edition of Wikipedia in the Finnish language . By article count, it is the 16th largest Wikipedia with about articles as of...
- 1989 Tango kuningatar ja kuningas (with Risto Nevala) (vinyl)
- 1990 Arja Koriseva (vinyl and CD)
- 1991 Me kaksi vain (vinyl and CD)
- 1991 Saa joulu aikaan sen (Christmas)
- 1992 Kun ilta saapuu kaupunkiin
- 1992 Naisten tie
- 1995 Rakastunut nainen
- 1996 Tango Illusion (all tangos)
- 1997 Mieli maailmoja juoksee
- 1997 Yö on hellä (with Tapani KansaTapani KansaAarne Tapani Kansa is a Finnish singer.-Career:Tapani Kansa made his first record deal in 1967 and had a breakthrough the next year, with his version of the hit song Delilah, translated into Finnish. Tapani Kansa had established a career in singing at a very young age...
) - 1998 Pieni kultainen avain
- 2001 Kuuntelitko sydäntäs
- 2002 Joulu joka päivä (Christmas)
- 2003 Nauran ja rakastan
- 2007 Kun aika on
- 2009 Minä taistelen
Guest appearance
- 2001 Helmut Lotti Goes Classic III (Arja sings a duet with Hemut Lotti on one track - All My Life:Näkemiin. This duet only appears on the version of Helmut Lotti Goes Classic III sold in Finland: versions sold in other countries have other tracks in its place)
Reissues
- 1993 Parhaat
- 1995 Hymyhuulet
- 1996 Enkelin silmin 1990–1995
- 1998 Kuningaskobra
- 1999 Kymmenen ensimmäistä vuotta
- 2006 Tähtisarja – 30 suosikkia
- 2006 40 unohtumatonta laulua
Vinyl singles
- 1990 Kuningaskobra/Sua ilman rakkain
- 1990 Rakkauden värit/Kun tunteet kuljettaa
- 1991 Taakse taivaanrannan/Lähde pois
- 1992 Kun ilta saapuu kaupunkiin/Meitä on nyt kaksi
- 1992 Anna kaikkien kukkien kukkia (From the album Toivo KärkiToivo KärkiToivo Pietari Johannes Kärki was a Finnish composer, musician, music producer and arranger. He is especially remembered for his collaboration with Reino Helismaa....
muistoissamme. Other side has Ressu Redford: Jos vielä oot vapaa)
CD singles
- 1992 Mr Tango (dedicated to Reijo Pitkäkoski)
- 1993 Vain taivas yksin tietää, Huomiseen/Hymy vain
- 1994 Kai virheen tein/Rakkaus saa mut muuttumaan
- 1994 Naisen tie/Taittuu multakin Rock´n Roll
- 1994 Et saa mua unohtaa
- 1995 Rakastunut nainen
- 1995 Kattojen Primadonna/Anna kätesi
- 1996 Tuulen värit/Jokin sisälläni
- 1996 Tähtien katse
- 1996 Yksin/Tango Illusion
- 1997 Suunnaton kaipaus
- 1997 Mieli maailmoja juoksee
- 1997 Kauas tuuli kuljettaa
- 1997 Onnenkyyneleet
- 1998 Rakkaus on ikuinen
- 1998 Kun tyttö rakastuu
- 1998 Valloitan koko maailman
- 1999 Hääsunnuntai
- 1999 Olet kastetta maan
- 2001 Sun armoillas oonTänä yönä, Kuuntelitko sydäntäs
- 2001 All My Life:Näkemiin (with Helmut Lotti)
- 2002 Kengän kopinaa
- 2003 Nauran ja rakastan
- 2003 Voitko vain unohtaa
- 2003 Uudet tähdet (only for radio)
- 2005 Niin
- 2005 Avaruus
- 2007 Penkki, puu ja puistotie (only for radio)
- 2007 Jokainen hetki (only for radio)
- 2009 Yövieras/Minä taistelen
Downloads
- 2003 Uudet tähdet
- 2005 Niin
- 2005 Avaruus
Theatre
- 1997 - 1998 "Singing Raindrops", LahtiLahtiLahti is a city and municipality in Finland.Lahti is the capital of the Päijänne Tavastia region. It is situated on a bay at the southern end of lake Vesijärvi about north-east of the capital Helsinki...
City Theatre - 2000 "My Fair LadyMy Fair LadyMy Fair Lady is a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe...
", TurkuTurkuTurku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
Summer Theatre - 2005 - 2006 "Sound of Music", SeinäjokiSeinäjokiSeinäjoki is a city located in Southern Ostrobothnia, Finland. Seinäjoki originated around the Östermyra bruk iron and gunpowder factories founded in 1798. Seinäjoki became a municipality in 1868, market town in 1931 and town in 1960...
City Theatre - 2007 "Sound of Music", ImatraImatraImatra is a town and municipality in eastern Finland, founded in 1948 around three industrial settlements near the Finnish–Russian border. In the course of the last 50 years, this amorphous group of settlements has grown into a modern industrial town dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and...
City Theatre - 2008 "Dirty Rotten ScoundrelsDirty Rotten ScoundrelsDirty Rotten Scoundrels may refer to:*Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , 1988 film starring Steve Martin and Michael Caine*Dirty Rotten Scoundrels , Broadway musical based on the 1988 film...
", TampereTampereTampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
Workers' Theatre - 2010 "Ava and Frank" , TampereTampereTampere is a city in southern Finland. It is the most populous inland city in any of the Nordic countries. The city has a population of , growing to approximately 300,000 people in the conurbation and over 340,000 in the metropolitan area. Tampere is the third most-populous municipality in...
Workers' Theatre
Awards
- Tango Queen (1989)
- White Rose "Female solo artist of the year" (1991)
- Emma "Female solo artist of the year" (1991)
- Dean Martin Boozing Society "Entertainer of the year" (1991)
- World Music Awards Monte-Carlo "Best selling artist of the year" (1992)
- Kullervo Foundation (2004)
- Tango Finlandia (2006)