Viola Turpeinen
Viola Irene Turpeinen (15 November 1909 – 26 December 1958) was an American-Finnish polka accordion player. She was one of the most well-known Finnish-American musicians of her time, and is possibly the first woman in the world to record accordion solos.
Also recorded as Viola Irene Turpeinen
Viola Turpeinen
kirja: suomi soi 1 tanssilavoilta tangomarkkinoille · Public domain
- Name
- Viola Turpeinen
- Born
- 15 November 1909
- Birthplace
- Champion, Michigan
- Died
- 26 December 1958
- Place of death
- Lake Worth Beach, Florida
- Nationality
- Finland
- Occupation
- musician · accordionist
- Fields
- schlager music
- Languages
- Finnish
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wikidata · Q15908673 · wikipedia · Viola Turpeinen
In this article
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Viola Turpeinen • Born — 15 November 1909 • Birthplace — Champion, Michigan • Died — 26 December 1958 • Place of death — Lake Worth Beach, Florida • Instrument — Accordion • Years Active — 1928–1954 • Label — Columbia, Victor, Standard
Life and career
Life and career
Viola Turpeinen was born in Champion, Michigan, in 1909 to her mother, Signe Viitala (born 1892), from the same town, and her father, Walter Turpeinen, from Kivijärvi, Finland. She began playing accordion after her father had bought her a two-row accordion at the age of fourteen. Viola met John Rosendahl, an immigrant from Elimäki, Finland, in 1926, and subsequently began touring the US with him as a duo, occasionally recording music. They later teamed up with fellow Finnish-American accordionist from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Sylvia Polso. The trio played shows around the country until around 1930. After Rosendahl's death in 1932, Viola married William Syrjälä, and began recording songs and playing shows with him that same year. In 1952, they both moved to Lake Worth, Florida and continued to perform music. On December 26, 1958, Viola died of cancer. She was cremated and eventually buried next to her husband in Shell Lake, Wisconsin.
Places
Named by the record
Places
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Marquette County.
Birth place
Lake Worth Beach.
Death place
Legacy
In 1994, Viola was the first woman inducted into the Minnesota Discovery Center Polka Hall of Fame. On September 16, 2001, she was posthumously inducted into the Michigan State Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony conducted in the historic Community Hall at South Range, Michigan, a venue she had performed many times in the 1930s and 1940s. Finlandia University's James Kurtti accepted the award for her and her plaque is currently on display at the university in Hancock, Michigan. From 2002 to 2004, the entirety of Turpeinen's recordings were released on four separate CDs released by Artie Music, a Finnish record label.
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Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Viola Turpeinen, revision 1364823838 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.FOLK'S TUNES: THE UPPER PENINSULA'S MUSICAL TRADITIONS - The Emberlight Festival
- 2.Rahkonen, Carl. Happy 100th, Viola Turpeinen. Finlandia University. 11. 2009.
- 3.Artie Music. Description: American Hanuri Prinsessa Volume 1 1928-1929 CD by Viola Turpeinen. musicforaccordion.com.
- 4.Artie Music. Description: American Hanuri Prinsessa Volume 2 1929-1945 CD by Viola Turpeinen. musicforaccordion.com.
- 5.Finnish Folk Song Concert Artist Dies. The Miami Herald. 31. December 28, 1958.
- 6.Former Area Resident Dies. Ironwood Daily Globe. 18. January 15, 1959.
- 7.The Duet of a Lifetime: Viola Turpeinen and William Syrjala. 16 March 2009.
- 8.by Brian R Juntikka - District 6 delegate of Michigan State Music Hall of Fame
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 September 2026.
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