Sarah Cummings with a kantele. Shellie Leger photo

WEST PARIS — Despite her heritage — all four of her grandparents immigrated from Finland — music teacher Sarah Cummings was unfamiliar with the kantele, a traditional Finnish string instrument with a unique sound, until she attended a Finnish cultural festival in Michigan

In the 30 years since that discovery, Cummings has become a master player and teacher of the kantele and has written one of the few English-language books on how to play the instrument (most are written in Finnish).

Born in Norway and raised in Paris, Cummings said that as a child, it was not unusual for her to hear neighbors and older relatives speak Finnish and eat Finnish foods. Her grandfather had changed his name from Komulainen to Cummings when he became a U.S. citizen.

She graduated from Oxford Hills High School and received a degree in music education degree from the University of Maine. A flute player growing up, Cummings teaches all band instruments at Greely Middle School in Cumberland, including a course on playing the kantele. Her husband, Scott Thurston, also teaches music at Greely, and between them, they have seven adult children.

What is a kantele and how would you describe its sound? The kantele is a traditional Finnish lap harp — technically a box zither — and is a family of instruments rather than one specific thing. It ranges in size from 5 to 39 strings (or thereabouts — some may have 38 or 40 strings but at that point, the number of strings is not quite so important). The smaller ones can be played by plucking and strumming and the largest ones are somewhat comparable to piano, with one hand mostly playing melody while the other plays chords. This is a very simple way to describe it, but it can be played with an enormous variety of techniques and in a multitude of contexts and genres.

Its sound? To me, nothing else sounds like a kantele, and its timbre is distinctive. I have heard groups playing and found myself looking around for where the bell sounds were coming from but it’s the overtones of the instruments that create the effect. There are also similar instruments in countries such as Estonia (kannel), Lithuania (kankles), Latvia (kokles), and western Russia (gusli). The Finns consider the kantele an important symbol of Finnish culture.

When did you get started? I had already been teaching music for a few years when I went to a Finnish cultural festival with my mother, aunt and sister in Hancock, Michigan, and a kantele group was playing there. I had never seen or even heard of one before and I was mesmerized. I went to a short hands-on session being offered with the instruments. A year later, my father gave me a 10-string kantele as a gift. This was pre-internet days, but my sister, Becky, had assisted by writing to Finland and figuring out how to order one. This was the early 1990s and at that time there were little to no resources to learn how to play here in Maine. I had a couple of small books that came with the instrument, but they were in Finnish. Dad could translate all except the musical terms, and I broke a number of strings just trying to figure out what the tuning should be. So, I had a couple of babies and the kantele made lovely wall decor for a few years. In 1998, the Maine Finns coordinated and hosted the national Finn Fest at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham and there was a six-hour kantele workshop on the program. This changed everything for me because it gave me enough information to use my musical experience and really get started. The next year I travelled to Issaquah, Washington, for a workshop where one of the teachers was Timo Väänänen, a well-known kantele player from Finland. He told us about a kantele camp in Ilomantsi, Finland, where he would be the director the following year. My cousin and I were quite hooked by this point, and we made plans to go. It was a remarkable 10-day immersion and since that time, I have been playing and teaching the kantele here in Maine.

How easy or difficult is it to learn to play the kantele? It is such a friendly instrument to begin because you really can’t make a bad sound. I like to start people on a small kantele because right away, you can make music and anything you play sounds good. Different sizes of kantele have different challenges, but as with any instrument, you have to practice to learn and get better. It’s a gradual process. However, I think it’s a great instrument on which to have early success and feel good. Then, you get addicted.

How have you incorporated the instrument into the school’s music program? We are so fortunate that Greely Middle School has supported this unique program by purchasing nearly 30 small kanteles, mostly 5-strings but a few 11-strings as well. My husband, Scott, and I both teach them in our sixth-grade general music classes. We start with an introduction-to-Finland lesson just to provide some background and then we jump into hands-on learning, playing together as a group, composing, and so forth. I tend to use them throughout the trimester-long course and the students really seem to like it. I estimate that we have been using them at GMS for about 15 years so that hundreds of students have had exposure to a bit of Finnish culture and music.

Why did you write a book on how to play the kantele and what has been the response? I started thinking about this and even making some rough outlines about 20 years ago, but I worked on it in fits and starts over the years, sometimes with very long breaks in between. A couple of years ago I realized that if I didn’t complete the project, I would be very regretful. Access to the internet has provided amazing opportunities to read about, see, and hear the kantele. However, basic instruction in English is still hard to come by, and I really wanted to create a resource that is as authentic and true to the way I have been taught by my kantele teachers in Finland. My years of teaching beginners to play band instruments was also an important factor. The book is designed to provide not only the basics of how to play both 5- and 10-string kanteles, but also reading rhythmic and melodic notation and other aspects of music theory. There are exercises for the very beginning player, but I intentionally increased the difficulty in order to improve technique and to challenge the dexterity of a more experienced musician. There are also tons of traditional Finnish and familiar tunes, arrangements, and a fairly extensive appendix of chord transition charts for the 10-string.

The response has been very positive, but of course, this is a niche audience. I have heard very nice feedback from musician colleagues and other kantele players whom I know. I am more than pleased with the reaction (and “blessing”) of kantele teachers in Finland. I believe it will be reviewed or featured in the Kantele magazine, a publication of Kanteleliitto, the kantele society in Finland, and I was asked if a copy could be put in the archives at the Kaustinen Institute of Folk Music. I honestly don’t care about sales, but I definitely hope my book makes the kantele more accessible to people.

Tell me about the project to convert your barn into a music venue and a kantele institute. Scott and I fell in love with our farmhouse in West Paris. The former owners did so much great work on the place, which gives us a real leg-up, including a new foundation and roof on the barn. Our big dream is to have a venue for many creative and artistic events such as concerts, community outreach, art expos, readings, workshops, etc., and probably some weddings, to boot. There have been three Maine Kantele Institutes in the past but the most recent was way back in 2008. Bringing teachers from Finland and renting space requires a lot of capital, but we now own the space, with enough room for classes, kantele building and rooms to house the teachers. We are currently working with an architect on plans for safety and accessibility and hope to move forward very soon to create a viable business.

You were in Finland this summer. How often do you travel there and what do you do on those trips? This was my seventh trip to Finland, but my first as just a tourist. I went to the kantele camp in Ilomantsi three times, once with the former “Maine Kanteles,” a lovely group who performed in Ilomantsi and attended the course as well. Sadly, that camp is no longer running. In Kuhmo, however, there is now a kantele course incorporated into the Sommelo Ethno-Music Festival, which I have attended several times. That’s a “two-fer” since my relatives also live there, and it gives us a nice chance to visit. Another Maine kantele group, “Oksat,” was formed to play at the Sommelo Festival in 2017 as part of the 100-year celebration of Finland’s independence. Scott and I went to the Kaustinen Folk Music Festival this year for the second time. This festival has been happening since 1968 and brings folk musicians from all over the world. I know that I will be going to Finland every now and then until I can no longer travel. It feels like home there.

What do you like to do in your free time? Most of my time outside of teaching is spent working on our place in West Paris. I like to bake and have a few Finnish specialties so who knows if that might end up as part of the scheme here. We also love to visit with friends and go to see live music.