This concert limelights UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra’s newly appointed lead trombonist, Kasperi Sarikoski. Sarikoski and conductor Mikko Hassinen have planned a concert whose focal point will be the velvety dark, melancholic and lyrical instrument: trombone.

The concert week will see the premiere of a new commissioned piece, specifically written for UMO Helsinki and the soloist, from Kari ‘Sonny’ Heinilä. In addition, the soloist himself has written some new music for the concert and the big band. Even though the main focus will be on Finnish music, a handful of pieces from the time that Sarikoski spent as a student in New York have been selected to complement the concert programme.

– I’m truly thrilled about the upcoming concert! Kari Heinilä is one of my favourite composers and I look up to him immensely. I’m very humbled to get the chance to play his new composition and collaborate with conductor Mikko Hassinen in this show, Sarikoski says.

– It’s often said that the trombone is the instrument closest to the human voice. Indeed, I aim to bring the sound and timbre of the instrument to the fore in this concert. The scale of the trombone is astonishing, ranging from dark tones to clear, regal brass sound, all the way to explosive heights, he describes.

Kasperi Sarikoski (b. 1988) first appeared as UMO Helsinki’s soloist in 2004 – when only 16 years of age. Since then he has regularly collaborated with the big band and was appointed its lead trombonist in August 2019. Sarikoski studied at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki, graduating with his Master’s Degree in 2013. The degree included an exchange year at the Jazz Department of the Conservatoire de Paris. In 2018–2019 Sarikoski pursued postgraduate studies at the celebrated Juilliard School in New York, which allowed him to gain some foothold in the vibrant local jazz scene and saw him appear on stage with the likes of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and Wynton Marsalis. In the domestic jazz field Sarikoski has collaborated with such names as Teppo Mäkynen, Jukka Perko and Henrik Otto Donner. He also leads his own group Kasperi Sarikoski & Nuance and works as a composer. www.kasperisarikoski.com

Photo: Jetro Sarikoski