Anna Kokkonen: English

Bio

Anna Kokkonen is a Finnish singer-songwriter based in Helsinki. She has written a lot of songs both in English and Finnish. In 2009, Anna began to write folk music with Finnish lyrics, and soon started an acoustic band.

Her music has been played a lot on the most popular radio station in Finland, Radio Suomi. Two of her singles "Kesän askeleet" (2015) and "Mitä rakkaus on" (2017) have been the most played songs of the week. Also "Veljeni" (2014) and "Toisenlaiset sydämet" (2016) have been among the most played songs of the whole year.

Anna's songs are stories about survival, fairytale worlds, everyday heroes, and yearning for goodness. Anna practises traditional Chinese Falun Gong meditation and volunteers in related human rights work, seeking to end the violent persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in Mainland China. Listen to the song Kultainen maa.

The recordings of the first album started in spring 2013 at Sonic Pump Studios. Just before the release Anna signed a contract with Ranka Kustannus record company, owned by Riku Pääkkönen. The release date of the debute album was 10th of January 2014. The second album "Toisenlaiset sydämet" was released 1st of April 2016. The third album "Matkalla kotiin" was released 18th of January 2019. The artistic production of the albums is done by Anna herself.

Anna's voice and vocal technique have evolved through various influences, and she seeks to express feelings that are beyond words. She has studied pop and jazz singing as well as classical technique.

Singing and songwriting have always been a significant part of Anna’s life – as an infant she already composed her own songs. She began playing the violin at the age of six, and as a teenager she started playing the guitar and singing. Anna is a graduate of the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory, majoring in electric guitar. As a piano player she is mostly self-taught.