Honeypaw combines the  Lithuanian sutartinė and the Finnish Kalevala runo traditions, reflecting the modern urban landscape around them in Toronto, Canada. Family duo of Lithuanian sculptor Jurgita and Finnish lutherie master Matti play traditional instruments including the Baltic psaltery, known as kantele in Finland, and kanklės in Lithuania.

In Finland, the kantele was considered a magical instrument, used for warding off bears and marking the boundary between the human and forest realms.  In the Lithuanian tradition, it was believed that trees contained the souls of ancestors, and playing instruments built from these trees was a way to reconnect with the ancestors.

Their first album “Ninth Tree Standing” was recorded in the forest using exclusively Tree Harps for the instrumentation. Called ‘meditative and evocative’ by The Wire Magazine, it reflects their artistic research interest of connecting Finnic and Baltic cultures through common forest imagery and symbolism.

Honeypaw will be building two Tree Harp installations in the Dūburys Lake Island for interactive performances.