The program of April Jazz continues today, Monday, April 22, with a concert featuring the Ukrainian youth orchestra Kryvyi Rih Junior Big Band and the Finnish brass band KOLIZIO.
The Kryvyi Rih Junior Big Band is a youth orchestra composed of students from a music school in Kryvyi Rih, the sister city of Espoo in Ukraine. Founded in 1980, the jazz orchestra has performed at various European festivals in countries such as the Nordic countries, Germany, France, and Spain. During the April Jazz festival, the band participated in the Big Band Boost! camp, culminating in a closing concert on Sunday, April 21. Additionally, the band will perform at the concert on Monday, showcasing their versatility with a repertoire that includes jazz standards, contemporary compositions, and arrangements of Ukrainian folk songs by their conductor Artem Zinchenko. The special guest soloist for the performance is the internationally renowned Finnish saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen.
KOLIZIO (esperanto for "collision") was formed in 2017 by six Finnish brass players with a simple desire to make music together. By combining their expertise, these virtuosos in classical and jazz music aim to bring a fresh and genre-defying perspective to chamber music for brass instruments. KOLIZIO's repertoire mainly consists of original compositions by the group's founding member, tubist Petri Keskitalo, as well as inventive arrangements of classic songs from various genres. Their concerts may feature a blend of Bruckner and Beethoven with jazz improvisation or a fusion of a Beach Boys classic with Sibelius.
Just before recording the band's first album in spring 2023, Keskitalo unexpectedly passed away. Portuguese tuba virtuoso Sergio Carolino then joined the ensemble as its newest member. Now, the album is completed, and its release is being celebrated at April Jazz!
The lineup for KOLIZIO is as follows:
Jukka Eskola, trumpet
Pasi Pirinen, trumpet
Antti Rissanen, trombone
Valtteri Malmivirta, trombone
Jukka Myllys, euphonium
Sergio Carolino, tuba (PT)
KOLIZIO & Kryvyi Rih Junior Big Band
6:30 PM doors open
7:00 PM KOLIZIO
Intermission
8:30 PM Kryvyi Rih Junior Big Band (UA)
Duration: approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes, including intermission
Tickets: €25/€20 + booking fees (starting from €1.50), available at Lippu.fi
Venue: Louhisali, Espoo Cultural Center
Address: Kulttuuriaukio 2, 02100 Espoo (Google Maps / Reittiopas)
Discounted tickets for Ukrainians are available for €10. These discounted tickets are provided by Espoo City Cultural Services. They can be purchased from the April Jazz festival guest desk in the Espoo Cultural Center lobby (next to the shirt sales) one hour before the concert starts. Please note that the desk does not provide change, so payments can be made by card or exact cash. To purchase the ticket, you need to present a Ukrainian passport.
Café Molli will be open throughout the concert at Louhisali. More information is available on their website.