Author Seth Godin once said, “An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it personally.”

To find someone who is brave, has insight, creativity, and boldness, there is no need to look any further than Finnish singer-songwriter Jonna, who will be featured in “Diamonds of the North—Finnish Singer-Songwriters Live Showcase” at Scandinavia House in NYC on October 21st.

What led Jonna to be the type of artist described above? The answer is a story of determination and will.

After winning the television reality competition Popstars in 2002 with the band Gimmel, Jonna signed a solo deal with Sony Music Finland and was nominated four times at Emma-gala (the Finnish Grammys), becoming a bonafide success. She was the first artist to really combine American influenced pop R&B sounds and Finnish lyrics.

However, she wanted to do something more.

She decided that she wanted to make an English-language album, share her music and her story with a wider audience, and raise mental health awareness with her music. She said in an interview with Allison Aston in 2009, “I write songs to myself more than about myself. It’s therapeutic to let it out in my songs so that it’s not just all somewhere inside me…. Then, when I’m performing, I try to believe what I wrote.” Her record label was not on board with her switching to English. She decided to do it on her own.

Bravely forging a new path as an independent artist, she went on a 7-year journey that led her from Los Angeles, to studying Pop and Jazz vocal performance in Helsinki and Stockholm, to crowdfunding and releasing her album Sound Mind–her voice, her way.
Recognized as a brave and bold artist who paved the way for other Finnish singer-songwriters, Jonna will be sharing her voice and infectious energy at Scandinavia House this October. This is a showcase you will want to witness live.—Arisael Rivera