Johanna Doty has been captivated by Finnish and Finnish-American music quite possibly her whole life. Her parents were both members of The Third Generation, a family band that performed for about twenty years at Finnish events in the United States and Finland.

Johanna started studying violin when she was about two feet tall; as with most good little Suzuki students, she began with a box and ruler "violin" and a round pizza cardboard for practicing foot position. She will always be grateful for the balance of the classical and folk traditions she experienced, thinking nothing of switching between Go tell Aunt Rhody and Porsaita äidin oomme kaikki.

Johanna began studying Finnish in 2002 at the University of Minnesota, and immediately fell in love with the rolling r's, words like yöpyä and lämpimämpi and, yes, even grammatical gems like the potential and the partitive plural. Luckily, her loves of music and the Finnish language can at the moment be rather neatly combined in the Finn Hall adventure although she is still searching for her life's passion that may also provide a salary and health insurance.

The Finn Hall trip to Finland in July, 2006 included some of her most musically inspiring experiences and reminded her that there is a culture that truly appreciates summer.








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