FREE Tuesday Coffee Concert: DUO IHANA (piano & cello duo)

-- Japanese Pianist Rie Tanaka and Finnish-American Cellist Jesse Nummelin met while studying at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. The language barrier challenged them to communicate verbally, but they bonded through playing Classical Music together, and have been performing together for the past 10 years.
--Now a married couple, Jesse and Rie's mission is to to build bridges between people and culturesusing the universal language of music. Their duo name "Ihana" is a Finnish word for "wonderful," acknowledging Jesse's three-quarter Finnish Heritage, while it could also mean "one flower" in Japanese. The name carries the meaning of two cultures coming together.
--Their most recent project is an original multi-cultural program, titled "Folk Music of Classical Composers".  Featured composers are Sibelius, Copland, de Falla, Bartok, Mamiya, and Chopin. All of these composers are widely known for integrating the traditional folk music of their heritage into classical music, and bringing spotlights to the underrepresented cultures throughout Western Music history. The duo hopes to offer diverse and cross-cultural experience to the audience, and show how cultures, although different from one another, can speak to every one of us with a sense of belonging, comfort, and nostalgia.