Larisa Ljungkrona-Mönttinen

Samara started out as Trio Samara with the oud player Ahmad al Khatib, the soprano saxophonist Sten Källman and the bass player Stefan Bergman. In 2018 the group expanded to a sextet with the accordionplayer Larisa Ljungkrona-Mönttinen, the master of oriental percussion Youssef H’beisch and the singer Avin Omer.

Samara explores the modal lanscape in Arabic, Kurdish and Nordic music. The musicians are engaged to find both the common ground between these traditions as well as learning and making new music. Avin sings in different Kurdish dialects as well as Arabic and Larisa uses her voice in wordless improvisations and the traditional Finnish runic songs.