We are all singers
Many of us feel uneasy about singing. Yet it touches daily life more than most of us notice. A song uses the same breath, voice, and attention as every conversation, every meeting, and every time we speak up.
SoundByNature starts with the person, not the performance. Singing becomes practice in trusting yourself while listening to others. That changes not only how you sound, but how you live.
Supportive environment
In architecture, the idea is not new. Alvar Aalto designed the Paimio Sanatorium so that the building itself would help patients recover. Frank Lloyd Wright built Fallingwater over a waterfall, and the sound of the water became part of the house. At SoundByNature, the room, the sound, and the relationship with the natural world have belonged to the creative process for ten years, since the beginning in 2016.
The practice
SoundByNature's practice includes vocal coaching, concerts, speaking engagements, and publications. It is anchored in a southern Finland forest studio with outdoor activities, botanical work, and a workshop for handcrafted natural-wax candles. The work draws on research in voice, acoustics, nature, health, and Nordic singing traditions.
The Forest Studio
SoundByNature is based at Forest Studio Mustikkarinne in Suomusjärvi, between Helsinki and Turku. It is Sanni Orasmaa's home and work space by Lake Enäjärvi. Here you encounter today's music and art in a landscape people have lived in for over 6,000 years.
Since 2016
Sanni Orasmaa founded SoundByNature in 2016. Its first tagline was “Road to voice goes through nature,” and the aim then was the same as now: finding your voice out of the noise.
Coaching and speaking. Voice lessons at the studio and online, mentoring, performance workshops, choir and ensemble workshops, and lectures.
Concerts and music. Concerts, commissioned performances, and custom music, including music for meetings and working sessions.
Publications. The books Luonnon aika (2018) and Luontolaulu – Minunkin sisälläni soi (2019), and the albums Seasons and Laulun Lapsi: Child of Song. The English translation, Luontolaulu – Singing with Nature, is free to read online.
Workshops & lectures include Music, Ageing and Technology Symposium, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland (2016) International Congress of Voice Teachers – Future of Singing, Stockholm, Sweden (2017) International Jazz Voice Conference – Artistry in Jazz Singing, Helsinki, Finland (2017) International Forest Therapy Days, Evo, Finland (2019) Columbia University – Improvisation and Time, online conference, New York, USA (2020) ARCTISEN – Culturally Sensitive Tourism in the Arctic, Sisimiut, Greenland (2020) International Jazz Voice Conference – Artistry in Jazz Singing, Helsinki, Finland (2023)
SoundByNature has partnered with Metsähallitus, the Finnish Forest Administration, in Nuuksio, Meiko, Porkkala, UKK, and Muotkatunturi. In Lapland, it has worked with Inari-Saariselkä Tourism, and from 2018 to 2021 it was an associated partner of ARCTISEN – Culturally Sensitive Tourism in the Arctic. SoundByNature has also worked with Green Care Finland and the Finnish Nature Entrepreneurs Network. It is committed in following the ethical guidelines of the Sámi Parliament.
Get in touch
For lessons, workshops, performances, lectures, and visits, please write to info@soundbynature.com
For lessons, workshops, performances, lectures, and visits, please write to info@soundbynature.com
"Once in the woods, I put some moss in a matchbox and kept it in my pocket. Every now and then I would take it out and smell the moss. Soon I was in the atmosphere of the forest, I could hear the wind humming and the birds singing."
Jean Sibelius
Through song, nature reveals its secrets. For thousands of years, we've shared stories inspired by the natural world through music, song, and dance. When we stop to listen, these stories echo melodies passed down through generations. And when we express our own stories through voice, instruments, movement, or words, we forge an intimate connection with the natural world. It becomes an inseparable part of our lives, a source of inspiration from which I draw daily.
Sanni Orasmaa
SoundByNature founder Sanni Orasmaa was based in NYC from 2000 to 2007 and later in Helsinki and Espoo. She moved to Suomusjärvi in 2019. Since 2000 she has performed, toured and recorded with artists such as Charlie Hunter - Bobby Previte Duo, Kirk Nurock's "Cross-Species" ensemble, Swiss composer George Gruntz's jazz opera "Magic of a Flute" and many others. She has been featured on NPR's Jazz Set, then hosted by Branford Marsalis, and was profiled by PRI's Jazz Smithsonian in the documentary series "The Jazz Singers," hosted by Al Jarreau.
In 2011, Sanni founded Sanni Productions and later SoundByNature, through which she currently produces and promotes her music and writing. Her projects include the recording "Seasons" and the books "Luonnon aika" and "Luontolaulu" (produced together with Metsäkustannus), which bring the acts of singing and performance closer to nature.
In 2011, Sanni founded Sanni Productions and later SoundByNature, through which she currently produces and promotes her music and writing. Her projects include the recording "Seasons" and the books "Luonnon aika" and "Luontolaulu" (produced together with Metsäkustannus), which bring the acts of singing and performance closer to nature.
To learn more, please visit sanniorasmaa.com.