Kertoa Kalevala

Kertoa Kalevala began as the solo project of actor, writer, and storyteller Ilana Hamilton, making its debut at the High Water Mark Lounge in Portland, Oregon on May Day 2015 with tellings from Grimm and Siberian oral tradition. The project found its unique voice as musical collaborators joined in, weaving an immersive theatrical and ritual environment rich with haunting and evocative instrumentation. Our material derives from traditional myths and folk tales, retold with both scholarly accuracy and dynamic inspiration. The project has appeared at festival bonfires and rock clubs in Cascadia and beyond.

"Kertoa" means "to tell". The Kalevala is the national epic of Finland, compiled in the early 19th century from a vast body of oral tradition. Its name means "the homeland of the Kaleva people", or broadly, land or homeland. By bringing the traditional art of storytelling to a new audience, we seek to awaken the homeland that lives inside each of us, to invite our ancestors to speak through the magic of story and music.
Kertoa Kalevala is Ilana Hamilton, Carl Annala, Brian Booty, and Asia Kindred Moore.

Portland, OR