Today's program has developed as my interest in the Finnish music scene has grown. That interest evolved early on through my exposure to the Finnish immigrant culture, through my mother and grandparents. More recently I met Finnish relatives in Finland and began meeting Finnish musicians. Finland has very successfully developed a support system, partly through state funding, that has allowed musicians to devote their time and energy solely to music. The result has been a renaissance of Finnish music in quality and quantity far beyond what one might expect from a country of five million people. I sincerely hope that you find this music interesting and rewarding.

Since the early 1990s Minneapolis native Craig Johnson has played solo piano recitals featuring contemporary American music. He has strongly promoted and featured Finnish classical music. He is a recent recipient of a Finlandia Foundation grant to further the performance of Finnish music.