What and who are
The Friends of Dorothy?

Photo: Pietari Purovaara

The Friends of Dorothy is a queer human rights a cappella vocal group.

The Friends of Dorothy sing loudly and unapologetically from the margins of society.

The Friends of Dorothy is a Helsinki-based queer a cappella vocal ensemble founded in 2018, combining music, spoken word, and activism. The group’s stylistically wide-ranging and boldly arranged multilingual repertoire spans from madrigals to  pop songs and folk music.

The Friends of Dorothy’s attitude is lyrical punk.

Kim Gustafsson’s slogan an hour before the gig is “Jag kommer aldrig att hinna.” (I will never make it on time.) At this point, Kim goes to buy herself performance trousers. Kim is also an actor, a theatre director and FroDo’s other tenor.

Salla Markkanen thinks and sings high, and she always sides with the underdog. She is a theater musician, a professional in music improvisation, and has arranged most of FroDo’s songs. Salla is FroDo’s soprano.

Petriikka Pohjanheimo is the first to go to bed. She is also the first to wake up, often when others still finish their afterparty. Petriikka is an actor and FroDo’s alto.

Mikko Rantonen is good at everything but not the best at anything. Or maybe he is. For example, he can throw a discus. And be a manager. An application manager. Mikko is FroDo’s second tenor.

Aleksi Vasko smiles innocently, gets off at the corners of Kallio on Saturday evening and disappears into the hummy, foggy night. Aleksi is a music teacher, a cellist and FroDo’s bass.