Euroradio Jazz Orchestra, 2022
In October 2022 an intense week of big band music took place in Cologne, Germany. This is an annual program arranged by the European Broadcasting Union, with talented musicians under the age of 30 from all over Europe coming together to play. This year we played the music of Bassist and Conductor Hendrika Entzian, who did a great job at conducting the orchestra during the week.
I was chosen by YLE’s jazz radio host Markka Partanen to represent Finland, and I didn’t really know anybody else there except my classmate, trumpet player Vid Šketa, who was actually representing Slovenia. We rehearsed from 10-17 the first few days, enjoying good food for lunch and dinner, with the evenings free to check out concerts and jam sessions, which there were plenty of in the city. It was a great experience to meet and work with the other great musicians in the band. Already after rehearsing and having dinner the first day it felt like we were a family. At the end of the week, we played two concerts with the big band. The 2nd concert was also broadcast live in the national radio in several European countries.
Getting out of my Finnish bubble felt very fresh. Since then, I have already collaborated with Allan Kaljaste, one of the great sax players in the band, when playing a concert in his city, Tallinn, and had him feature on a couple tunes. I am glad to have been given this opportunity and I encourage anyone who gets the chance to participate in the future to do so!
~Johannes Granroth, Guitarist, Jazz Department
Dig Sibis Jazz
Things that are happening at the Department of Jazz at the Sibelius Academy.
“Jazz is not a what, it is a how. If it were a what, it would be static, never growing. The how is that the music comes from the moment, it is spontaneous, it exists at the time it is created. And anyone who makes music according to this method conveys to me an element that makes his music jazz.” -Bill Evans
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