Introduction: The Potential and Constraints of Cultural Transfer through Voice, Connection, and Message

This special issue gathers research articles that are based and elaborate on the presentations given at the conference under the theme “Voice, Connection and Message in Traditional Singing”, held at the Estonian Literary Museum from 30 November to 1 December 2020. The time and the setting were exceptional due to the COVID-19 pandemic in full swing. Consequently, this re-occurring scholarly meeting in Tartu, Estonia, with the guiding topic specifically focusing on traditional songlore, was transformed into an online event – a format that had gradually become a new normality. The number of contributions delivered turned out to be impressive, nevertheless: the conference featured 18 papers by 23 presenters from 7 countries.