Rajaton

Rajaton is a Finnish a cappella ensemble, founded in Helsinki in 1997. The Finnish word rajaton means boundless, to indicate the breadth of their repertoire, from sacred classical to near Europop. Rajaton consists of Soprano: Essi Wuorela, Soprano: Virpi Moskari, Alto: Soila Sariola, Tenor: Hannu Lepola, Baritone: Ahti Paunu and Bass: Jussi Chydenius. Rajaton performs primarily in Finland but also tours around Europe and the rest of the world. Rajaton appears regularly in Canada at the Festival 500 choral event in St. John's, Newfoundland as well as at MusicFest Vancouver in Vancouver, British Columbia, and was the guest artist at the Kaleid Choral Festival in Woodstock, Ontario in 2005, 2006 and 2010. Rajaton's fan following has grown substantially since 2002. In 2005, Rajaton album sales reached 100,000 worldwide. They have earned eight gold records in total, with Rajaton Sings ABBA reaching platinum (30,000) and Joulu reaching double platinum (60,000). Rajaton also includes original material in their repertoire: aside from works by composers such as Mia Makaroff, Laura Sippola and Anna-Mari Kähärä, some of their pieces are written or arranged by members of the ensemble. In one of the shows the group sings many Finnish Eurovision songs.