Arto Järvelä

Who is Arto Järvelä?

Arto Järvelä is a Finnish fiddler and composer. Because of the many groups and projects he is involved in, he has been called "the busiest man in Finnish folk music". He is primarily a violinist, but among other instruments of his are nyckelharpa, mandolin and kantele. Arto Järvelä is the fourth generation of the wellknown Järvelä fiddler family, whose musical roots belong in the rural area close to the small town Kaustinen.

As a ten year old, he started to play the drums and bass guitar in a family band, together with his father. He got serious on the fiddle at about 13 years of age. He played the harmonium in a band of youngsters called Järvelän pikkupelimannit until he got good enough on the fiddle to join the group as a fiddler. This group eventually became the most well known Finnish fiddler folk music group, abbreviating its name into JPP. Besides having learned to play the traditional route, Järvelä is also trained in the Sibelius Academy's department for folk music, where he nowadays also teaches.

Among the groups where he is or has been a member are

JPP

The trio Alakotila-Järvelä-Kennemark, along with Timo Alakotila from JPP and the Swedish fiddler Hans Kennemark