AROUND LA WITH AVA®: MANY HAPPY RETURNS

 

Many Happy Returns??  Americans have never quite bought into Boxing Day when the rest of the world blatantly returns gifts that “… do not fit” without guilt.  And, to be perfectly honest, I am not anxious for some marketing guru to find the “hook” to get us back into the stores.  I know, the drones are coming –but I really can wait!

The happiest returns of the holiday season—or of any season, always seem to involve a renewed acquaintance, the return of a favor long forgotten, the return to a location with fond memories, or just a chance recollection of times gone by through a serendipity of circumstances for an unknown purpose.  The momentary smile on my face may be the only physical manifestation of a profound experience.  I like that.  It feels good.  Yes, I am Finnish.

As another frantic year draws to a close, our souls recall the beautiful Peace of Finnish Christmas.

 But

As the distal boom of the old year melds into the crescendo of the year ahead on the ever spinning, ever so busy cycle of life here, recent events have been so fun to look back on with fondness.

A Personal Favorite: Former Finnish President Tarja Halonen’s return to Los Angeles for a major speaking engagement at the World Affairs Council luncheon at Spago was the culmination of this Finn’s ‘season’.  I had been present at her first World Affairs Council speech as Foreign Minister and, now again, as a former Finnish President at the pinnacle of her status as an influential world leader sharing her perspective of times past and present.  I was fortunate to be able to raise a question referencing her answer to one issue raised on her last visit regarding defense of Finland’s border with Russia.  It was fun to recollect on years past from old and new perspectives.

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KATÉA’S BIG HOLLYWOOD DÉBUT

STORY & PHOTOS: TOMI HINKKANEN

Finnish singer Katéa was introduced to the Hollywood music professionals at the annual Musexpo music convention held at the Roosevelt Hotel across TCL Chinese Theatre. She made a splash at a showcase, in which she performed five of her songs to music moguls. Finntimes met with the singer at Musexpo for an exclusive interview.

Katéa is escorted to the Rosevelt lobby by her manager Sami Peura. The experienced manager has been working toward this event for the past year and a half. There’s a badge that says ”artist” hanging on the singer’s chest.

Katéa’s real name is Katja Pihlainen. She was born in Vaasa, Finland 21 years ago. Since then she has lived in many places – Joensuu, Häneenlinna, Turku and nowadays she resides in Helsinki.

“I’ve always made music and sung since I was a child. I started writing music at nine. Since then, I have written and sung even more. This has been an interesting journey”, Katéa describes.

She studied jazz under Taina Lehto in Hämeenlinna and classical music in Montana, where she spent a year as an exchange student at 15 some six years ago. Other than that, she is self-taught.

How did you end up in Montana?

“I looked at brochures with people running with surfboards on the beach, but I found myself in Polson, Montana, living on an Indian reservation (Her host family however, were not indigenous people). It was a really interesting experience. American culture opened to me there in a new way. It was also interesting to go to the Polson High School with my peers. It helped my career and I learned English there.”

Her host family were the Mattsons. The wife as working in a bank and the husband owned a mechanic shop. Their children had already flown the coop but there was another exchange student, a Norwegian boy also staying with the family.

“My ‘host-brother’ was a year older than myself. It was nice to have another Scandinavian in the family. Together we were able to discuss the things that were strange to us. It helped the culture shock.”

Speaking of which:

“People are quite different in Finland and America. Here, people are really social. I had to practice small talk at the beginning, so that it would come naturally. That year taught me to be a lot more independent. I learned to appreciate many things from Finland, and started to see the country with different eyes.”

Polson High School was accommodating to her music.

“They had a serious work ethic. They allowed me to take singing lessons. I got a room at my disposal for an hour a day in which I was able to write and rehearse”, the singer reminisces.

A local school teacher taught her classical singing.

“He advised you should hang out with more talented people than yourself. If you play with musicians, make sure they are better than yourself. It has been a good piece of advice, which could be recommended for everyone.”

Although not a classical musician, she admires the genre.

“I admire the discipline and perfection. It cannot be done half-baked. I also like the work ethic. I like classical music, even though I would not do it myself for a living. I could practice it more. Classical training has taught me about voice and vocalization in many different ways.”

After returning to Finland, Katéa enrolled in Juhana Herttua’s Performing Arts School in Turku.

“I composed a lot of music there. I got acquainted with musician and mixer Timo Haanpää, who owns a studio in Turku. We started collaborating, performing cover songs to gain experience in performing.”

Together they played at local clubs and rehearsed in a studio built in a bomb shelter.

“I started to bring my own songs to the studio. We discussed them and began to produce them together. Timo taught me about producing and technology. I spent a lot of time in there. I learned how to use a microphone, and what happens in the mixing process. I am a perfectionist and want to understand the whole palette. It was a fruitful time for me as a musician.”

At 18 Katéa moved to The Netherlands for six months.

“I worked, composed and got to know some rappers in Rotterdam.”

She plays the piano and the guitar ‘sufficiently’, as she puts it in her own words. Her work method in the beginning was quite unusual.

“The text is terribly important to me. So, I wrote the lyrics first and then started to think about what kind of world it is musically. I didn’t realize that it’s a strange way to make music, but it suited me back then.”

Her process has since changed as producers and other professionals have entered the picture. Katéa has purposefully kept a low profile, finessing her art, fine tuning her songs. In fact the world had not heard of her until a song called ‘That Ain’t Love’ came about.

“It was born last December in Stockholm. I was in the studio with three Swedish producers and a New Zealand lyricist. The song was created in collaboration with this young production team called Money Bridge.”

After presenting their demo for the song ‘That Ain’t Love’, the production team got a music publishing contract with BMG Chrysalis. BMG is a big international music company focused on the management of music publishing, recording rights and music distribution. The single came out in April and can be heard here: http://www.clashmusic.com/news/premiere-kat%C3%A9a-that-aint-love

Katéa returned to America for the first time since her exchange student year. This time around she is accompanied by two Finnish musicians, pianist Joni Saukkoriipi and guitarist Antti Merisalo, as well as manager Sami Peura. ‘That Ain’t Love’ could be heard everywhere at Musexpo – at the café, by the swimming pool and in between panel discussions on the hallways. Katéa also performed it for a local LA station Radio Summit.

As the interview took place, manager Peura was preparing for Katéa’s big night – a 20 minute showcase at a studio instruments rental company S.I.R. stage on Sunset Boulevard.

“There will be representatives from record companies, representatives of the American and the international program office, TV, film and game industry people. Some of them have come specifically to watch the Katéa”, Peura, who has been in music business for 20 years, tells.

“I hope to pique people’s interest and to be able to continue to work with these people”, Katéa says before the big night.

And what a night it was. S.I.R. Studios was teaming with young and hip music people. Katéa’s showcase started promptly at 8.30 pm. First pianist Joni Saukkoriipi and guitarist Antti Merisalo appeared. The strong Southern California sun had taken Antti by surprise – he had painful looking sunburn. Then, dressed in a black top and a yellow skirt, her raven black hair tied in a bun, songstress Katéa took the stage. She performed five original songs – ballads and pop tunes, culminating with ‘That Ain’t Love’. It was a fantastic performance full of emotion, incredible range and interpretation. The material she was working with was also very high class. If one had to compare her with other artists, Björk and Amy Winehouse would come to mind. We will be sure to hear from this singer in the near future. Right now Katéa is back in Europe and making rounds in Scandinavia, but California has left an indelible mark in her heart.

“Los Angeles is an interesting town with interesting people who have lots of stories. It has been interesting to hear them. I’m interested in human psychology and how people  think. It is a big source of inspiration for me and I will use it in my writing”, Katéa sums up.

TEEMU SELÄNNE RETIRES IN CALIFORNIA

The all time greatest Finnish ice hockey player Teemu Selänne, 44, ended his illustrious career in August. “The Finnish Flash” began his career in Finland in 1989. He then played 21 seasons in the NHL for the Winnipeg Jest, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. Selänne is the highest scoring Finn it the NHL history. Now he has come home to live at the Selänne family home in Coto de Caza, California.

Teemu Selänne and wife Sirpa Selänne are sitting in the Ray Stark Theater  of the University of Southern California, watching for the first time a full-length documentary “Sel8nne” , directed by JP Siili. The screening is part of the very first Euphoria Film Festival organized by the Finnish Consulate General headed by Consul General Juha Markkanen along with 12 other EU consulates. There are about a hundred people in the audience – most of them local Finns. After the screening there is a Q & A with Teemu Selänne and the audience. USC’s Programming Director Alex Ago served as a moderator.

Q: What made you decide to agree to this documentary?

TS: -At first I didn’t know how much I would want to open up my life. Then I thought it would be a nice memory when I’m old. I’m happy I did it. It’s a pretty honest story. I didn’t want the documentary crew to be around too much. I had a job to do too. the whole process took almost 2 years.

A bulk of Teemu’s interviews were done in the Summer at his house in Kirkkonummi, Finland.

TS: -Summer time was easier, I was able to be more flexible. We were landing in Helsinki (coming from California), and I told my family there was going to be a camera crew waiting. They are going to do the story of my life and you are going to be part of it. They looked at me like, seriously?

Selänne says the filming didn’t interrupt too much of the family’s life. The Selännes have four children – three teen-age boys Eemil, Eetu, Leevi and a six-year-old daughter Veera.

TS: -the cameras weren’t there all the time, just a couple of days here and there. Our life hasn’t been so private anyway, that’s why it was pretty easy to do.

The Ducks won the Stanley Cup in 2007. In one scene Teemu is seen pouring water from his Stanley Cup onto the rocks of a sauna stove.

TS: -There are some crazy stories about what people do with it. I heard some people let their dogs eat from it!

Q: How hands-on were you in the making of the movie?

TS: -I wanted to know what was going to be in the movie but did not want to involve myself too much. I didn’t want to open my garage door, but they wanted it. I’ve been very lucky to be able to collect those cars. Actually we drove my wife’s car here. (I only have one, Sirpa quips from the audience), It’s too fast for her anyway.

Selänne is said to have about 30 antique cars in his garage. In the 90’s Teemu also used to drive rally in Finland under a pseudonym because the team owners didn’t want him to jeopardize his life. He was involved in a serious accident in 1999 in which no one died but his friend Kalervo Kummola, the Vice President of the International Ice Hockey Federation, was seriously hurt.

TS:  – I haven’t driven after the 1999 incident. I don’t have time for it from playing golf.

Q: What are you going to do now?

TS: -I played such a long time and lived a disciplined life with a schedule. For a little while I’m not going to do much. I like it that when I wake up in the morning I really don’t have to go anywhere. I can travel and be more part of the kids’ lives. After a while I want to find something that is going to be more challenging. I have a restaurant in Laguna Beach which is going to keep me busy. For a little while I’m just going to enjoy life.

Teemu then jokes that his wife Sirpa better not boss him around too much.

TS: -If the to do list gets too long she knows I can always go back playing hockey!

Q: How were you able to overcome a bad game?

TS: -Bouncing back from a bad night was the most difficult thing to do. It’s the same with golf. When you hit a bad shot, forget that, stay positive and focus on the next one. Hockey is all about confidence, staying positive and believing tomorrow is going to be another opportunity. That’s the only way to move forward.

Q: Would you have liked to have played in a town more into hockey?

TS: -I really enjoy the fact that people don’t recognize me all the time. I can live a normal life and enjoy privacy. Orange County and LA have been happy places for us. You can surf in the morning, play golf in the afternoon and go skiing at night if you want – it’s only a couple of hours away. That’s my kind of life!

Teemu says he would leave his work in the hockey rink.

TS: -My family couldn’t tell whether I played well or not. Some players don’t talk on game days. I can watch Baywatch before the game starts. That’s my approach.

Q: Would you like to do more charitable work?

TS: -I think so. It’s something I really enjoy doing. I am going to start a hockey academy in Finland and probably here too.

Q: There was some talk of you retiring after the Stanley Cup victory – was it the right choice to continue?

TS: -I am happy I didn’t retire in 2007. There were still many great years left. Obviously last year was pretty tough for the Ducks and Sochi Olympics were important to me. I am thankful the Finnish team gave me one more chance to play a big role. It was important to me.

Q: You were on a book tour in Finland, promoting your biography Teemu written by sports journalist Ari Mennander – are there plans to translate the book into English?

TS: -There are no plans right now to translate the book into English. Obviously I have to take some comments off (Ducks Coach), Bruce Boudreau – I’m just kidding. There are too many stories about Finnish games for American audience. It’s better I remain a mystery man here.

Q: There has been some talk about you going to Finland to play for the Jokerit – is there any truth to that?

TS: -Our oldest son is going to go to college next year. My middle one is going to play junior hockey in Wisconsin. So, going now to Finland knowing my family can’t come with me sounds selfish. Of course a part of me still wants to play but I don’t think it’s going to happen. Or something weird has to happen if I wake up one day and decide I’m going to play on that level again. I think it was the perfect time to go out. I’m ready for another chapter in my life.

SIX LIVES OF GABRIELLA NEJMAN

REPORTER: TOMI HINKKANEN – WEST HOLLYWOOD

PHOTOS: JONNY KAHLEYN

Gabriella Nejman is a lovely and talented 22 year old Finnish actress with an unusual background. Her mother is from Finland and father from Israel. Gabriella has lived in six countries. She is a classically trained dancer, who moved to Los Angeles a year ago to pursue an acting career. For the past year she has studied at the renowned Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in West Hollywood. Finntimes recently met with Gabriella and her mother Outi, as the young actress made her theatrical debut at her school’s production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts.

Gabriella Nejman can truly be called a citizen of the world, she  speaks English, Finnish and Hebrew.

She was born in Helsinki, Finland, and at the age of a year and a half moved to Israel. She also lived in South Africa, New Zealand and at the age of 17 she moved to Australia. Gabriella studied dancing at Dance World Studios in Melbourne. Then, when Gabriella was 19 she moved back to Israel. She took dance classes and met choreographers and they booked her for various events. She was in a production for six months, dancing and touring in a production called iFestigal. She describes the production as an amazing experience performing  four shows a day.

Were you always interested in dancing and acting?

“Since I was 15 I wanted to be a professional dancer. So, I went to train full time. I only saw myself as a dancer at the time. Everywhere I went it was dance, dance, dance. I was trained at Classical Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Tap, I did some Salsa and Flamenco as well. It was only after I turned 18 that I discovered I wanted to be an actress. It happened while I was in Australia training to be a professional dancer. I went to a performing art school. We had singing, drama and other classes aside from dancing as well.”

Gabriella’s great uncle was a famous Finnish actor  Pekka Niskanen.

Gabriella tears up when the discussion turns to her beloved late grandfather Yrjö Niskanen. When she visited his house in Kuopio, she found an old photo album that had belonged to her great uncle, Pekka Niskanen.

“I saw the book and suddenly I recollected my grandfather always showing me that photo album as a child. It had pictures of different roles my great uncle was in – Romeo and Juliet, pictures of him in the theater and postcards made of him. They are beautiful pictures. I realize now that my grandfather was always hinting that acting has always been in my blood.”

How did you come to study acting here at Lee Strasberg?

“Well, I did my research before I came here. I went to see different acting schools just to get a feel of which one would suit me the best. When I came here, I audited a class – a method class taught by M. J. Karmi. 

A French man, Louis-Karim Nébati, who plays Pastor Manders in Ghosts, was on stage that day. He did a monologue about a rapist that I will never forget. He was living it. I believed every single word he said. I got so involved with it that I said to myself, I want to come here.”

Gabriella made her theatrical debut in August at her school. Tell me about the production of Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts?

“We started rehearsing seven weeks prior. First there was quite a big round of auditions for this. We had to prepare a monologue by Anton Chekhov or Tennessee Williams – one of the classics. I did a monologue from Uncle Vanya by Chekov. I did Sonya as an audition and got a call-back the next day. 20 girls and 10 boys. I got sides got sides for Mrs. Alving but also for Regina Engstrand. I went to the audition thinking I would be playing Regina. Then the director told me I would be playing Mrs. Alving (the female lead). I was thrilled.”

In the play, Gabriella plays a middle-aged woman, although she is only 22. Her birthday was April 5th. Amazingly, she pulls it off with flying colors. Her mannerisms, the way she talks and carries herself are all that of a 50 year old woman.

How did you prepare yourself to play a middle-aged woman? 

“I started to understand my character by breaking down the whole elements of who is Mrs. Alving – what has she gone through. I created her back story. Then, to be honest, my mother is that age. I was observing her – her actions. I am wearing her earrings right now to feel I am an older lady. That’s my secret!” 

After seven weeks of rehearsals, the play was performed for three times only. Do you learn lines quickly?

“I learned the 78 pages with great joy.”

Tell me about studying at Lee Strasberg?

Where do you live?

When she is not acting, Gabriella likes to dance.

PAULIINA HAUSTEIN’S SUMMER AT THE BOWL

STORY: PAULIINA HAUSTEIN

REPORTER AND PHOTOS: TOMI HINKKANEN – LOS ANGELES

DATE: SEPT. 3^RD, 2013

Hollywood Bowl’s summer season is soon coming to an end. The spectacular outdoor venue again hosted some of the music world’s biggest stars, starting with the opening concert that starred Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, Patti Austin, and John Legend. The house orchestra of the bowl is called the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. Finnish cellist Pauliina Haustein won the coveted position as a stand-in player in the orchestra. Finntimes met the young cellist to talk about her life and music career.

Pauliina Haustein, neé Pölönen, was born in Klaukkala, Finland 26 years ago. She was a musical child from the very beginning.

– I have been told that I started to sing before talking. In the morning, when my eyes opened, I started singing and continued throughout the day. At five, I knew lyrics of 60 songs – all the verses, Pauliina laughs.

When she was four, the family moved to Corvallis, Oregon, where her father Ilpo did his doctorate in sustainable agriculture. Meantime back at the ranch, her mother Jaana took care of the children. In the often rainy Oregon, Pauliina became bilingual. A year and a half later the family returned to Finland. To maintain her language skills, Pauliina was enrolled at the Kaivoksela English language elementary school.

The Pölönen family has four children – Pauliina is the oldest. Her siblings are also musically talented. Sister Juulia is studying the 36 -string concert Kantele (harp), and brother Perttu film composing – both at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. Though he also has an ear for music, second brother Pietu became an economist. Pauliina studied the cello at the Conservatory and then at the Sibelius Academy, graduating with a BA in music.

In the summer of 2009, Pauliina and her cello headed to Sárospatak Christian music festival in Hungary. On her penultimate day, she met a German man named Martin Haustein, who worked there as a volunteer.

– He is a native of Wilkau-Haßlau of the former East Germany. He was 10 years old when the wall came down, Pauliina tells. The couple hit it off at first glance.

-I was living in Finland and Martin in England, where he was making his doctoral dissertation in Neurobiology. He found me on Facebook and Skype. During the first six months we met a couple of times in both countries. We found out that it was serious enough between us to begin to date, even though we couldn’t live together for the first year, Pauliina chuckles.

They married August 6^th, 2011. At the end of the month they moved to Los Angeles, where Martin had gotten a job as a researcher at UCLA. Pauliina began house hunting. In addition to having lived in Oregon as a child, she had toured the United States with the Chamber Ensemble Halo, but had never been to Los Angeles before.

-I got daily panic attacks in the LA traffic. Even the idea of having to ​​leave the house and hit the road kept me awake at nights, she sighs.

Eventually they found a suitable apartment in West LA.

– Two days later I was sitting in the traffic and waiting at a red light. Someone rear-ended me at full speed. As a result, my car crashed into another vehicle.

It was a hit and run – the culprit fled the scene and was never caught.

– We had not yet paid for the car. So, every month we had to make payments on a car, which we didn’t have. Our insurance refused to pay for the damage that incurred to the other car. We had to hire an attorney and fight for almost a year before the insurance company finally agreed to pay, Pauliina fumes.

Pauliina suffered a whiplash injury.

-For several times a week for months I had to see a chiropractor. It took me six months to get back to the rehearsing rhythm, she recounts.

For a year Pauliina biked everywhere and through it learned the traffic patterns in different parts of the city at any given times. As we are driving toward Hollywood, she gives advise on what routes to take to avoid traffic jams as if she had lived here her entire life.

Haustein is practicing the cello up to four hours a day. She is also taking music lessons. Having recovered from the accident, she began building her musical career in the City of Angels.

-My friend, an Israeli-French pianist Pascal Solomon had married a woman who had a green card in the United States, and they had moved to Santa Barbara. We started putting together a concert program. Then I met local Finns. I got gigs through them, Pauliina gratefully acknowledges.

She then got wind of a TV series looking for musicians. There was no mention of the name of the show in the advert.

-I sent them an application with my picture attached. A month later, I got a call to come to the set of Glee at Paramount Studios. They sent me the song that I was to play the day before shooting. Based on that I wrote the notes for the cello, Pauliina explains.

The scene in question took place at the school’s gym. A string quartet played a song from the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. One of the actresses sang.

-The scene was filmed with four cameras from different angles. We worked on that three minute piece for eight hours. We played for real, but what is heard in the final episode was prerecorded somewhere else, the cellist explains.

-The Actors were nice and interested in the fact that I am from Finland. I had not seen the show before, so I wasn’t star-struck. Only afterwards I realized that the guy I spoke with for 15 minutes was one of the main stars.

The gig paid $320. She has revisited the series twice since.

-The compensation was not great, but how else could I have been involved in a Hollywood TV series, Pauliina asks rhetorically.

She has worked at a steady pace – weddings, retirement parties, church concerts, and as an assistant in local orchestras.

Then, Pauliina heard that the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra was seeking musicians. Entrance exams were held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. In the first round, 20 musicians played from behind a curtain, so that their appearance would not affect the jury. Pauliina and five others made it to the finals.

– At the end the jury applauded and congratulated us. Then they offered me an assistant position. I am now on  the list as an assistant to the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pauliina smiles.

The orchestra consists of musicians from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, as well as studio musicians. To play with them at the world-famous Hollywood Bowl with 17 thousand people watching is definitely the greatest accomplishment so far in the young musician’s career. Pauliina played in the orchestra during the opening gala with Steve Tyler. The old crooner took a liking to the young statuesque Finn and winked at her. The summer 2013 season at the bowl concludes later in September.