Jazz’n philosophy! The award-winning Dutch composer, master clarinettist and Nietzsche enthusiast Joris Roelofs features UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra at Tanssin talo’s Pannuhalli on November 10th, 2023. The visit is part of the international jazz residency in Helsinki. The concert features Roelofs’ compositions as big band arrangements, as well as a new commissioned peace for UMO. Conductor Ed Partyka.

Joris Roelofs (b. 1984) is known above all as a versatile musician. He’s also a composer and pedagogue who studies the relationship between Nietzsche’s philosophy and music, and has composed works based on Nietzsche’s philosophy. Roelofs is currently working on a PhD dissertation on Friedrich Nietzsche, improvisation and the notion of freedom. He teaches a master’s course on music and philosophy, “Freedom and Improvisation”. His lectures “Great Philosophers on Music” and “Nietzsche’s Muses” also explore the relationship between these topics. Roelofs writes philosophical essays and articles on Nietzsche-related topics. He is also a member of the International Nietzsche Research Group in Stuttgart, Germany. Roelofs has been a member of the Concertgebouw Jazz Orchestra and the Vienna Art Orchestra and collaborated with Brad Mehldau, Lionel Loueke and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra, among many others. Roelofs chairs the clarinet department (jazz) at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. www.jorisroelofs.com

The visit is part of the international Jazz Finland Residency in Helsinki launched by the Finnish Jazz Federation, Sibelius Academy Jazz Music Department at Uniarts Helsinki, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and the Finnish Musicians’ Union. The Residence, coordinated and managed by the Jazz Federation, annually invites two international artist guests to Finland for a period of 1–2 months. The residency program includes holding master classes at Sibelius Academy and performing together with UMO. The residence’s partners are also Music Finland, Finnish Jazz Musicians association and the HIAP Helsinki International Artist Program. www.jazzfinlandresidency.fi

“Clarinettist Joris Roelofs has built his career balancing intense discipline and deep commitment to post-bop tradition with a measured exploratory streak.” – DownBeat 

Photo: Hielke Grootendorst