Oct. 6 stop at Savo Hall in Frederick is part of first tour

Until this week, rehearsals for the new duo Aallotar have taken place with accordion player Teija Niku on one side of the Atlantic Ocean and violinist Sara Pajunen on the other, with an Internet connection in between.

Niku arrives from Finland early this week, and then, as Pajunen joked on their Facebook page, “we can see if we actually like each other.”

Aallotar is touring in the United States in October, with a stop at Savo Hall in rural Frederick at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 6.

The two decided to develop a collaboration when Kaivama, a Finnish-American duo that includes Pajunen and multi-instrument musician Jonathan Rundman, went on tour in the United States this summer with the Finnish duo Polka Chicks, made up of Niku and fiddler Kukka Lehto.

Pajunen and Niku decided to collaborate on a new venture that built upon the contrasts and similarities they noticed between their two musical traditions: They were both playing Finnish music, but the traditions were rooted in different soils, and like grapes, had taken on the flavors of the place in which they grew.

“One hundred years ago, their families lived within hours of each other in the western regions of Finland, speaking the same language, playing the same music, eating and drinking the same culture,” according to Aallotar’s website. “Then the immigration of hundreds of thousands of Finns from 1870-1930 found Pajunen’s ancestors relocating to Northern Minnesota, while Niku’s family remained in Finland. Now, in the 21st century, they revisit earlier days of Finnish folk music — but with an ocean and a century of musical influence between them.”

Aallotar’s name is based on their trans-Atlantic connection: Aallotar, meaning “wave goddess,” was a character in the Kalevala, the national epic of Finland, and has graced Finnish ships for centuries. Evoking the idea of something magical that happened between two distant lands seemed appropriate for their new collaboration—and perhaps the rehearsals conducted via SoundCloud recordings adds to the mystique.

“We will be so confused, when there’s an actual person holding an instrument,” Niku joked.

Pajunen has played in Frederick twice before with Kaivama, which has developed some devoted fans in the community.

Attendees at Sunday’s event are asked to give a free-will donation, which will go toward the cost of the event and maintenance of the historic Savo Hall building. Savo Hall was founded in 1898 by Finnish immigrants and served as the cultural center of the community for decades. The use of the hall was revived in recent years as part of Frederick’s annual Finn Fest the third weekend in June.

Savo Hall is located 4.5 miles east of Frederick on Brown County 5, and 3 miles north on Brown County 14.

For more information about the Sunday performance, call 605-290-3335 or e-mail frederickfinnfest@gmail.com.

Frederick website: www.fredericksd.com

Aallotar website: www.aallotarmusic.com