Henriika Steidel-Luoto has been appointed Managing Director of the UMO Foundation, the organisation behind the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra. Steidel-Luoto has served as Deputy and Acting General Manager of UMO since February 2023 and will continue in her new permanent position from 1st January 2025.
As Managing Director of the UMO Foundation, Steidel-Luoto will oversee the orchestra’s operations and finances, collaborate with the artistic director and the artistic team in planning the concert programmes, and manage a staff of approximately 20 people. She reports to the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Henriika Steidel-Luoto (b. 1991) is a versatile music and culture professional with extensive experience in music and big bands as a producer, music educator, composer, arranger and musician. She has previously worked as Deputy and Acting Managing Director of the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra, Producer at UMO, Sointi Jazz Orchestra and Jyväskylä Big Band, and Artistic Director and Producer of the Wine Garden Festival. She also has many years of big band experience as both a trombonist and a singer. Steidel-Luoto has a broad network within the Finnish jazz and cultural scenes. She is passionate about big band music and its development.
”We were looking for a skilled and visionary Managing Director to provide our orchestra with strong experience in cultural management and finance, strategic vision, and knowledge of the jazz scene. Henriika Steidel-Luoto’s professionalism in cultural administration will help her guide the nearly 50-year-old UMO towards an even brighter future”, remarked Tuomas Finne, Chairman of the Board of the UMO Foundation.
”I’m enormously grateful and honoured to have been appointed as the new Managing Director of the UMO Foundation. It’s a great privilege to lead this organisation. The orchestra’s 50-year history and existence has been a source of inspiration for me – as well as for many others working with jazz and big band music – ever since I discovered big band music some 20 years ago. For me, as Managing Director, a strong strategic framework is essential, enabling the fulfilment of artistic ambition and supporting the goals of both the musicians and the organisation as a whole. I will do my utmost to ensure that the UMO continues to evolve as a bold, creative and sustainable member of the cultural scene. I would like to thank the Board of the UMO Foundation for the trust they have placed in me. I very much look forward to working with the Board, staff and stakeholders to continue building an even stronger future for Finnish jazz and big band music”, commented Henriika Steidel-Luoto.
UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra is the only professional orchestra in Finland specialising in jazz and new rhythm-oriented music, performing about 100 concerts and events every year. Since 1975, the orchestra has released more than 60 albums and performed with international jazz stars as well as top Finnish musicians. The orchestra’s repertoire ranges from jazz and soul to classical music, blending the new with the old in surprising ways. UMO will celebrate its 50th anniversary season from summer 2025 to spring 2026. www.umohelsinki.fi
Photo: Dorit Salutskij