Interview: Composer Johanna Telander Talks KALEVALA THE MUSICAL

Johanna Telander is a New York-based Finnish-American creator/artist. As a teen, she collaborated with major labels in Finland, signing a record deal with Universal Music. She holds a BA in Music in Jazz from Capital University, Columbus, OH, and a performance degree in Musical Theatre from AMDA in NYC. Having worked professionally in and around NYC since 2007, she's performed at the United Nations and on the Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, alongside Residente and Bad Bunny. She's the music, book and lyrics behind Kalevala the Musical, her debut musical.

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Kalevala the Musical. Like "Kale," the vegetable, and "Vala," as in Vala Morgulis, a term known from the Game of Thrones series, is what you told us, sort of as a mind map for the title. Pronounced Kah-leh-vah-lah. Thanks for clarifying this pronunciation mystery for us. So, what is this much-hyped musical about?

I'm humbled by any hype it may have created thus far! Anyone's welcome to the forest. Kalevala the Musical is a mythical fantasy inspired by the national epic poem of Finland. Compiled and abridged by Elias Lönnrot in 1835, the Kalevala consists of numerous thousands-years-old stories largely gathered from the Karelian Region and Finland, where those stories were kept alive via oral tradition through generations. The tales have inspired the likes of J.R.R.Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and beyond.

What got you writing about this collection of myths from your homeland?

The Kalevala stories, while the basis of the musical, actually weren't in my first draft. A part of the concept is a byproduct of this other musical I started writing while I was still in school. I'd had this dream in which a tree beckoned me to explore the golden inscribing on its falling leaves. I pocketed that project for several years, until it became relevant again when Finland turned 100 years old as a nation in 2017. I went through a bit of an existential crisis, exploring who I was as an artist, a mom of two toddlers, and as a human being, digging into what it meant to me to be an expat Finn, having made the US my permanent home. I wanted to find ways to meaningfully share parts of my cultural heritage with my kids. I turned to Kalevala for inspiration and started writing songs based on the runes. The poems reminded me my ancestors were nature people, people of the forest. That spoke to my very core. So, while this musical is about Kalevala, I placed this magical forest at the real heart of it, wanting it to be more of a character than a mere setting. This is a story where nature is the leading lady. The trees are the preservers of these long-lost characters, the storytellers that take us through the myths. The forest is one full of melodies and memories, a place where spirits and ghosts cradle a time when we were once one with nature. I'd like to think of this forest as an escapist's favorite place to hang, reassess and reset some values.

What has the path of development been like so far for this epic forest myth extravaganza?

Columbia University holds an annual Kalevala Marathon, where people come together to read the poems, often in several languages. I decided to perform two of my songs there. The attendees at the event were intrigued, and one project soon followed another as I kept expanding the song cycle. It was at the Finnish Street Fair in Greenwich Village, organized by Finlandia Foundation NYMC, that I repurposed some songs from my "tree musical" and added them to the song bunch. The songs fit in perfectly- I only had to change a word or two of the existing lyrics!

The piece turned theatrical, when my friends and I put out a casting call, added a band, a music director, and even set some songs to choreography. I'm going to fast-forward a handful of concert readings that followed at The New York Estonian House, The Scandinavia House NY, Helsinki's Kapsäkki Theatre, and a staged reading at Signature Theatre in 2019 until-

Until there was the pandemic.

Yes. And the world stood still. We all pressed pause, except for actor/producer and Kalevala cast member Quentin Garzon, who got busy producing virtual videos online. After producing mostly songs from established musicals, Quentin asked me if I'd thought about producing a concept album for Kalevala the musical. I confessed I had, but that the thought seemed daunting, with such a large cast, ensemble, and my big dreams of featuring a full orchestra of live instruments, including two harps and a kantele, a Finnish folk instrument. Luckily, he shared my dream and took on making the project a reality. I've never met anyone more on a mission of making the impossible possible! He is a force! As Quentin started gathering talent for the album, Kristi Roosmaa, and Petra Jasmiina Haapamäki signed on to help produce the album. I asked my childhood friend and brilliant orchestrator Marko Hilpo to orchestrate the material and he did an incredible job, bringing the music alive on a whole other level, while staying true to the song's original flavors. We set out to record in studios in LA, NYC, Helsinki, London and in home studios across the world.

You have some major stars on this album, like Ramin Karimloo and Julia Murney! How was it working with the talent during the recording process?

I still can't believe we were fortunate enough to have Ramin Karimloo on the album as our legendary Väinämöinen! He's the protagonist, the spirit of humanity that the kids follow through the stories. Working with Ramin while recording remotely between London, OH and NY was such a pandemic-time highlight for me. I found it so inspiring to witness his humble process of taking on the completely new material. His vocals are not only the embodiment of a rock god- he also theatrically slays as the powerful mage, with a mix of animal-like beast and raw vulnerability. Recording legendary Julia Murney as his arch nemesis Louhi, the powerful matriarch witch of the North, was awesome, because we were able to do it live in a studio in NYC. I had so much fun bonding with her over Finnish things, who would have known she likes Moomins! She is a smart actor and a true powerhouse singer. Fun fact, one of her songs, Tide of the Sun and Moon - is actually one of the repurposed "tree songs" I wrote years ago. I am equally in awe of the slew of other Broadway talent we got to collaborate with, as well as the Finnish Theatre star Reeta Vestman, who has been our Rainbow Maiden almost since the very beginning. She recorded from a studio in Finland. The whole cast brought such richness to these mythical characters!

Once you had recorded everyone, putting all the material together cohesively must have been a challenge.

Yes, mixing was a huge challenge. Especially when so much of the recording was done remotely. After many phases, that task ultimately fell to my college friend Jay Alton, who used his out-of-this-world magic ears to make us all sound our best. Brian Lucey, from Magic Garden Mastering, then mastered it to absolute perfection. All in all, it took close to another 100 people's involvement in making this epically amazing Original Concept Album journey happen! I am grateful to each one of them. My hubby, parents, our supporters and donors, the graphic designer of our album cover David Garzon, the many professional contributors, the ensemble, the orchestra, and the assistants, and the fans - who kept us going. After close to two years, the many phases of insanity have finally been cured - as now the album is out.

Now anyone can enter the forest. At least via streaming platforms or your website by listening to the album. But what's next for Kalevala the Musical? Is this it?

Definitely not the end of the line here. I think there are many forms this project could take and be expanded upon. The interest that the album has garnered encourages me to believe our audiences are ready to embrace more original stories. I'd like to see Kalevala fully realized on stage. Or I'd like to see this filmed- preferably in my home woods in Tuxedo, NY, and locations in Finland. There's a possibility of partnerships bubbling up with some other artists. If fate and luck will have it, some cool developments may soon be underway. The one thing I'm not going to do is silence the forest, though. It's just too loud in my head, and it's really wanting to come out into the world in some sort of 3D form.

So why do you think your trees don't want to be silenced? What do they want to tell us? What's their goal!

Kalevala is cool! If my trees could influence people both in and outside of Finland to pick up a copy and check it out, this would be a goal I'd happily reach. But this is not just about Finns and their mythology. We humans are rooted in nature more than we remember. In our modern comforts, in the celebration of man-made inventions and tech all around us, it's sometimes so easily forgotten. If I can ignite some environmental conversations, have us think of nature more as a part of who we are, and not as an external factor that we simply live around, maybe we might be more likely to want to do something to save it.

To explore human nature, one where human and nature come together, makes this story both timely and universal.

Any words of wisdom you would like to share with the next generation of musical theatre writers or composers?

Trust the story that wants to be written. Be kind to yourself- you don't have to be perfect. Be whimsical, explore your thoughts non too carefully, see what sticks to you on the fly because that's, in my experience, where those best ideas like to live and be discovered.

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Learn more about Kalevala the Musical here.