Polka Chicks Duo


Kukka Lehto – violin, mandolin & voice
Teija Niku – 2- and 5-row accordions & voice

Kukka Lehto and Teija Niku met while they were both studying at the Sibelius-Academy Folk Music Department in Helsinki. They have played together in the group Polka Chicks since 2004. In 2009 Kaustinen Folk Music Festival named Polka Chicks as the Band of the Year and also the band's long awaited debut album was released. In addition to their performances in Finland, the Polka Chicks have performed in the USA, Denmark, Russia and Germany.

Kukka and Teija have performed as a duo at various private events as well as accompanists for folk dance groups. Both of the girls compose new modern folk music, but also highly value old traditional folk music. In their arrangements the duo likes to leave room for improvisation as well as playing with dynamics. 

Kukka Lehto has studied in both Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory and at the Sibelius Academy Folk Music Department. She is known for her ability to play in a range of styles from bluegrass and folk to classical music. Kukka works as a musician at the National Theatre of Finland. She also tours with various bands (e.g. Ruuti, Hilja Grönfors & Lat?o Dzinta, Luna Nova) all over the Europe and has contributed to a number of recordings in the course of years.

Teija Niku is an accordion player with extensive experience in performing ever since she was 7 years old. She has graduated from the Sibelius-Academy Folk Music Department in 2009. During her studies Teija specialised in folk music from the Balkan area and Nordic countries, but her wide repertoire includes also tango, French musette, schlager, etc. Teija has reached the second prize in the Golden Accordion competition in 2000 and first prize in the Finnish 2-Row Accordion Folk Championship in 1996 and 1998. She has had the honour to learn from great accordion masters such as Lelo Nika, Sasko Velkov and Maria Kalaniemi. Teija plays in bands such as Teija Niku & Grupa Balkan, Karuna and Polka Chicks and does a lot of freelance work with different kinds of duos and trios.

Go to the Polka Chicks myspace page to hear sound samples!....HERE


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