A Personal Song is the heritage of the Indigenous peoples of the Arctic, in which singing personifies an individual and ‘invites’ their spirit to be present. The seemingly free-form Personal Song is based on the singer’s perception and knowledge of the person who is the subject of the song. Personal Songs are different from the songs of Western cultures, which usually have a clearly defined musical content and structure.

Violinist Pia Siirala studies the disappearing tradition of the Personal Song. The traditional singers, Koryak Elder Mulingaut and Chukchi Elder Vukvunga, whom Pia met on her field trips, both gave her a Personal Song as a gift. Based on these songs, Pia seeks to find and create her own song. Inspired by the raw singing of the tundra peoples, she attends to the feelings it creates within her and gives them a musical shape with her violin.

The recording is part of Pia Siirala’s artistic doctoral degree at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki.