PORTFOLIO

Venla Ilona Blom is a contemporary folk vocalist, performer and composer from Finland.She has a M.Mus degree in vocal performance and composition studies from Sibelius Academy and has worked as a professional musician since 2009.

As a vocalist, she is specialized in extended vocal techniques, vocal percussions and traditional singing styles deriving from Scandinavian and Finno-Ugric folk music.

She has done an extensive amount of composing and studio work and her vocals have been used in movie soundtracks, TV-shows and trailers such as HBO:s hit series Game of Thrones. She has won several awards over the years with her internationally acclaimed vocal group Tuuletar and she is Finland’s only professional female beatboxer.

VOCALIST and PERFORMER

innocence

In Spring 2025 Venla Ilona Blom made her soloist debut in Semperoper Dresden as Markéta in Kaija Saariaho’s opera “Innocence”. The role of Markéta is specifically written for a singer with Finno-Ugric folk singing abilities.

“Innocence“ is the fifth and final opera by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023). Following its acclaimed premiere at the d’Aix-en-Provence Festival in 2021, it went on to enjoy great success in London, Helsinki and Amsterdam.The Semperoper’s new stage production by Lorenzo Fioroni in spring 2025 continued on a succesful path and gained rave reviews in German media.

“Casting the Finnish folk singer Venla Ilona Blom as the characterwho appears on stage as a vision of the dead Markéta was definitely a stroke of luck because of her extraordinary singing, which is based on the Finno-Ugric folk song style, and her touching performance.”

- Der Opernfreund (DE)

“The singing and acting are excellent across the board, with the most impressive performance certainly belonging to the Finnish folk singer Venla Ilona Blom, who gives the victim Markéta a sound that is otherwise unusual on the opera stage.”

- Concerti

NEVRAK

Venla Ilona Blom's debut album NEVRAK (Nordic Notes) was released in September 2024. Influences from Nordic folk traditions, film music, and electronic music are intricately woven into the compositions along with the beats which were crafted from samples of Blom's own beatboxing. "NEVRAK" is a tapestry of legends, myths, and stories Blom has collected from her travels around the world. The album features unique soundscapes that were recorded over the years in diverse locations such as the Lofoten Islands of Norway and Kathmandu, Nepal. On this album, Blom keeps exploring universal themes such as the decay of humanism, rootlessness, escapism, and death, alongside the beauty of life and its incompleteness.

“A full bodied and eccentric album by Venla Ilona Blom, icon and cool character of the Scandinavian Nouvelle Vague. Folk forms, avant-garde that conquers every musical corner, wild nights in enigmatic forests, are the message of this work, authentic, of post-punk matrix. Magnificient.”

- Giuseppe Maggioli, Windout (IT)

TUULETAR

“Fierce energy, beatbox rhythms and other worldly harmonies: vocal performance group Tuuletar is taking new Finnish music abroad with a novel approach. The band’s singers create a sonic landscape, where beatbox rhythms meet Finnish poetry tradition and global influences. With their freshly invigorating original music, Tuuletar enchants audiences globally with their heartfelt, tribal and captivating spirit.”

Since 2012, Venla Ilona Blom has been touring the world with an all-female vocal performance group Tuuletar. Tuuletar is one of the most prestigious and internationally acclaimed groups from Finnish folk music scene today and has won several music awards in recent years (f.e. Finnish Music Award EMMA for best Ethno album, 2017 and The Border Breaking Act of the Year, 2019). Tuuletar has performed in festivals and concert halls in five continents and nearly 30 countries and their videos have been streamed more than 10M times. Their music has been placed in commercials, trailers and TV-shows such as Game of Thrones (2017), Wentworth (2016) and Monarca (2017). Tuuletar has released two studio albums, three EP:s and several singles and collaborative tracks over the years. Their third studio album will be released in 2025.

“Rhythmic, dissonant and compellingly melodic, Tuuletar’s Rajatila / Borderline (2019) is one of the most eclectic, innovative and original albums we’ve ever heard. Tuuletar builds on Finland’s vocal traditions on the way to making something that is entirely its own. This album is a watershed project that should stand the test of time.”

- Rebecca Christie, The Recorded A Cappella Review Board (USA)

TUNTURIN TARINA/tale of the sleeping giants

“Tunturin tarina” (English: “Tale of the Sleeping Giants”) is a 2021 Finnish nature film directed by Marko Röhr. The film brings the audience close to Lapland's fells, many seasons and animals through the lense of the rich mythology of ancient Scandinavians and Lapps.

The film won the main prize of the 2025 European Wildlife Film Awards.

The music is composed by a Finnish film composer Panu Aaltio. Featuring performances from vocalists Venla Ilona Blom, Sini Koskelainen, Johanna Kyykoski and Piia Säilynoja (Tuuletar) and one of Finland's most esteemed orchestras, Tapiola Sinfonietta, the music accompanies the film on a journey into the magic of Lapland's natural beauty.

In 2023 Tuuletar and Tapiola Sinfonietta premiered a new concert production of “Tunturin tarina”, where they perform the music live while the movie is simultaneously being viewed on the big screen. Since the premier, the concept has travelled around Finland and has sold out every single concert. The next performances will feature Jyväskylä City Orchestra (2025) and Lahti Symphony Orchestra (2026).

“The strength of the Tunturin tarina performance arose especially from the soundscapes sung by the vocal group Tuuletar. The singing entered the audience’s bodies the way only Northern nature ever could.”

- Aamulehti

Woman Machine

Venla Ilona Blom's self-written solo stage performance WOMAN MACHINE premiered in 2022, as part of the annual program of the performance art house Mad House Helsinki. The piece was performed in the Finnish Theater Museum, where Blom worked in August 2022 as the museum’s official artist-in-residence. In 2023 the piece was selected as part of the annual KAKTUS dance festival line up in Finland.

WOMAN MACHINE is an interdisciplinary stage work that moves multidimensionally in the space between a concert, monologue, and dance theater performance. The piece takes a strong stance on the impact of constantly evolving and developing technology and the flood of information on people’s mental health. A particular focus is on the millennial generation.

BEATBOXER

Venla Ilona Blom is Finland's only professional female beatboxer. She studied and learned beatboxing and vocal percussions as part of her studies in Sibelius Academy and has travelled around Europe learning from some of the world’s top beatboxers such as Bellatrix (UK), Roxorloops (BE) and Felix Zenger (FIN). Blom is specialized in combining beatboxing with folk music in her artistic work and has collaborated extensively with traditional musicians around the world. She has composed and performed music as a beatboxer in several folk music ensembles (including PIIRAINEN BLOM COMPANY and Ojajärvi Blom Ojajärvi.

“While many composers of contemporary Finnish art music remain rooted in the past, bound by the demands of modernist aesthetics, folk musicians are eagerly exploring a wide range of new possibilities. Time and again, new folk ensembles emerge that blend tradition and innovation with refreshing boldness. With their debut, the Ojajärvi-Blom-Ojajärvi trio delivers an invigorating take on folk tradition—music that feels both deeply rooted and strikingly contemporary, honoring the past while resonating with the present.”

- Aki Yli-Salomäki, YLE, 2020

“All is brilliantly tied together with Venla Ilona Blom and her explosive vocal percussions.”

- Justus Schmidt, RARB, USA

“Venla Ilona Blom is a truly impressive beatboxer”

- Simon Broughton,Songline

educational work

Venla Ilona Blom has developed teaching methods for beatboxing in Finland and has composed commissioned beatboxing works for choirs and vocal ensembles. Her final thesis for the M.Mus studies in Sibelius Academy presents new and innovative pedagogical approaches for learning and using beatboxing as a creative tool.

Ms. Blom is currently a visiting lecturer in vocal music, beatboxing and performing studies at Sibelius Academy and Theatre Academy, Finland. She has also a position as a performance coach for The Finnish Concert Centre (Konserttikeskus) and carries out commissioned educational work in Finland and abroad.

“Though beatboxing has established itself as a modern vocal technique, the amount of pedagogical work done in the field of beatboxing is still relatively small. With this research I present beatboxing both as a versatile musical instrument and asa creative and innovative pedagogical tool.”

- Venla Ilona Blom: Exploring the Art of Beatboxing through Creative Pedagogy,Sibelius Academy, 2018

composer

Venla Ilona Blom has composed music for several albums, bands, projects and medias. She is specialised in composing for human voices and she often mixes different singing styles and vocal techniques with ambient or orchestral elements.

Her compositions for the award-winning vocal band Tuuletar have been playlisted in radio shows all over the world and her compositions “La Foret Vide”, “Polar Night” and “Soua” were placed in several medias, such as TV-series Rain (Netflix) and two independent short films. Her co-arrangements for Tuuletar have been placed in trailers and series such as Game of Thrones (HBO), Monarca (Netflix) and Wentworth (FOX).

Ms. Blom has composed, arranged and orchestrated music for big band and chamber choirs and she’s done commissioned composing work for commercials. She has also written music for theatre and dance performances and is currently writing a score for a stage play which will premier in 2025.