TALES OF LES DAMES BLANCHES Concept Album to Feature Militia Vox, Natalie Toro
The recording draws on folklore from France, the Philippines and Finland, with music written and arranged by Telander herself.
The highly anticipated new work from Finnish-American composer Johanna Telander, best known for the global folklore phenomenon Kalevala the Musical, and the critically acclaimed Gray Land, reimagines the most universally feared feminine ghost stories of the 'Ladies in White'.
Whether known as France's La Dame Blanche de Puymartin, The Philippines' White Lady of Balete Drive, or Finland's Valkoinen Rouva, these elusive female phantoms appear in folklore across centuries and continents, haunting fireside tales and Hollywood movies alike.
The Official Concept Album Recording, now available at talesoflesdamesblanches.com, features Militia Vox (Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Van Helsing's Curse), Natalie Toro (LES MISERABLES, Evita), Felicia Curry (Into The Woods), Melody Munitz (The Addams Family, American Girl Live!), Catrina Teruel (South Pacific, The King and I), Jenny Lindsey (Carnegie Hall Soloist), Dayna Graber (The Producers) Kristi Roosmaa (The Tonight show with Residente feat. Bad Bunny), Mia Moravis (Henceforward, Dancing At Lughnasa) and the composer herself in principal roles, each portraying one of twelve fateful phantoms - named in Jungian fashion as archetypal maidens, mothers, witches, crones and beyond - carrying a fragment of a woman's soul to an esoteric shoreline in hopes of finding salvation aboard a ferryman's boat, and passage to the beyond. They are joined on their journey by Eeppi Ursin, Ida Metsberg, Petra Jasmiina and Taru Haapamäki in ensemble, and Brad Bailey, Aaron Irwin, Katie Chambers and Scott Tran in the orchestra.
The music, moving between classical, folk, and ethereal pop-jazz textures, and conjuring the storm-lashed skerries, crumbling castles and ancient forests our ladies haunt, is written, arranged and orchestrated by Telander herself, and mixed and mastered by Jay Alton of Alton Sound. The album is produced by Johanna Telander, Mia Moravis and Petra Jasmiina of Petrafied Productions.
The twelve principal roles of the musical, inspired by historical events and the destinies of the women behind the fables, hold remarkable similarities to the universal challenges women face today. Rather than centering the men who feared or condemned them, the musical gives each "Lady in White" her own voice, reframing her not as a cautionary tale but a real woman suffering a grim, often violent, fate.
By allowing the story to be told by the protagonist herself, rather than her adversaries or executioners, and focusing on the human experience instead of what she happened to wear in death, the musical shifts the focus on historical womanhood, ties together feminine destinies across time and place, and invites us to rethink what a ghost story really is.
'Tales of Les Dames Blanches - The Official Concept Album Recording' is available now on all major music platforms, and on talesoflesdamesblanches.com. Excerpts of the album will be premiered at New York's Scandinavia House on September 17th, 7 PM at 'Sounds of Light and Darkness - Nordic Maestras in Concert', a collaborative event presenting new original compositions by six internationally acclaimed Nordic female composers, produced by Nordic Artists of New York. Tickets are available now at nordicartistsofnewyork.com/maestras.
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