Board Member
Verna Kaunisto-Feodorow is a violinist, non-fiction writer and educator with a master’s degree in music and over 20 years of experience in music pedagogy in France, Luxembourg, Portugal and Finland.
As an educator, Verna started off working with children's orchestras as an assistant at the Municipal Conservatories of Paris and has developed extracurricular musical activities for children of diverse backgrounds in both Finland and France. Later, she worked with Sistema Finland, but, even before joining Sistema Finland, she had spent time working with the Näppäri orchestras, using a combination of Finnish folk music and the Suzuki method.
During her time with Sistema Finland, Verna taught how to approach juvenile social and behavioural problems in orchestras at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences and within the Tempo Orchestra - Sistema Finnland’s social projects. Verna's pedagogical portfolio also includes time spent working at both the Luxembourg Philharmonia and the Orchestra Philharmonique de Provence.
As a musician Verna, has been a violonist and chef d´attack for the Luxembourg Chamber Orchestra and the Olio Galanti Big Band in Luxembourg. She has played for the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Nouvelle ensemble orchestrale of CNSM de Paris, the Orchestra Philharmonique de Provence and the Ensemble Gioccoso in Provence.
On top of playing in orchestras, Verna has taken part in violin and piano recitals, played in trio and quartet formations, participated in the recording of several albums and radio and TV broadcasts and performed at music festivals, operas, theatres and other concerts. She has been responsible for musical programmes for Finnish Embassy events in Luxembourg and Portugal as well as involved in the organisation of the prizewinning Kajaanin Runoviikot music and poetry festival in Finland. Her interest in the socio-cultural field also led her to become a member of the Health Through Culture Foundation, whose chairwoman she was during her time in Finland.
Verna currently lives in France, where she leads Passeurs d'Arts - Méditerranée (itself a member of Sistema Europe) and teaches the violin in the music association of Sausset les Pins. She also teaches for Démos.
Information valid as of autumn 2019.