Performers
EMMA SALOKOSKI
Emma Salokoski (b. 1976) is one of the most admired voices of Finnish rhythm music. Having made her breakthrough in the early 2000s, her soft sound quickly became the defining voice of the Finnish modern jazz and nu-soul scenes. Salokoski has regularly performed with a number of the best Finnish jazz and club acts, including Jukka Perko, Husky Rescue and Don Johnson Big Band, and is the lead singer and songwriter of Quintessence. Recently she has focused on her own Emma Salokoski Ensemble, combining influences from Brazilian and Finnish music.
www.texicalli.net/emmasalokoski
JARMO SAARI
Composer-musician Jarmo Saari (b. 1970) is one-man guitar band that sounds like a whole orchestra. A leading Finnish guitarist of his generation, Saari’s sonic landscapes and often multi-layered real-time sound processing – created by the electric guitar, human voice or several odd instruments – have enriched the sound of many jazz combos, rock groups, chamber ensembles and big bands. Saari has carried out his musical vision in diverse environments and collaborated with filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki and contemporary dancer Tero Saarinen. He has performed in 25 countries and is featured on over 60 albums. “ I want to think of myself as a poet, painter, laboratorian, explorer or medicine man”, Saari describes his unique approach.
BRITTEN SINFONIA
One of Europe’s most celebrated and innovative chamber orchestras, Britten Sinfonia is praised for the quality of its performances and an intelligent approach to concert programming that is centred around the development of its players. Unusually it does not have a principal conductor or director but chooses to collaborate with a range of the finest international guest artists from across the musical spectrum as suited to each particular project.
Recent seasons have included projects with Thomas Adè€s, James MacMillan, Joanna MacGregor, Masaaki Suzuki, Alina Ibragimova, Dhafer Youssef, Paul Lewis, Nitin Sawhney, Owen Pallet and the Michael Clark Company. In 2009/10 guest artists and collaborators include Christopher Hogwood, Efterklang, Pierre-Laurent Aimard, Nico Muhly, Mark Padmore, Pekka Kuusisto, Imogen Cooper, Stephen Layton and Polyphony.