Silent Music – UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra & Anni Elif (FI) & Joris Roelofs (NL)

Thu 17.4.2025
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13:00 Showtime
Duration 75 min, no intermission
Conductor Ed Partyka
Tickets from Musiikkitalo.fi 12 €. The ticket price includes the cloakroom fee.
Fri 18.4.2025
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18:00 Showtime
Doors open at 17:30. Duration 75 min, no intermission.
Conductor Ed Partyka
Ticketmaster.fi Standard 35 € Retiree 30 € Student, unemployed, servicemen, child 15 € Ticket sales also at the church from 17:30 on, cards only.

UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra is bringing new tones and striking guest soloists to its traditional Holy Week’s concert series. The solemnity of the Christian Holy week adds additional depth and emotion to the music.

UMO’s soloists in the two concerts at Musiikkitalo on Maundy Thursday and at the Mikael Agricola Church on Good Friday are Anni Elif, a versatile singer, cellist and composer who masters many tones, and Joris Roelofs, a Dutch composer and bass clarinettist inspired by the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche. The concerts will feature compositions by both soloists.

Anni Elif’s compositions combine classical music with jazz to create an eclectic blend of genres, with her flexible, outstanding voice and improvisation. This is Anni Elif’s first appearance with UMO. In the concerts, she both sings and plays the cello.

Composer and bass clarinettist Joris Roelofs performed as a soloist with UMO in 2023. In Roelofs’ music, jazz meets modern classical music, philosophically exploring the concept of freedom.

In these concerts the cello and bass clarinet will be featured instruments, with UMO’s outstanding soloists also having ample space to interact and improvise.

Music composed by two special guest artists will be arranged by Ed Partyka, who also conducts the concerts.

Anni Elif Egecioglu (b. 1986) is a Finnish vocalist, cellist and composer with roots from Sweden and Turkey. She is a firework of an artist and composer, combining a colourful classical- jazz crossover mezzo-voice with tones from her cello or synthesizer. Egecioglu has got what seems like an endless source of stylistic influences. She is known for her work in the alternative group Elifantree which makes music in the borderland between improvised and progressive music. Egecioglu also works frequently with international musicians, artists and contemporary composers and her musicianship has brought her to many corners of the world. www.annielif.com

Joris Roelofs (b. 1984) is known primarily as a versatile musician, but also as a pedagogue and composer who studies the relationship between Nietzsche’s philosophy and music. He has composed works based on Nietzsche’s philosophy, lectures on the relationship between music and philosophy, freedom and improvisation, and writes philosophical essays and articles, mostly on topics related to Nietzsche. He is a member of the international Nietzsche research group based in Germany – and of course the topic of his doctoral dissertation is also related to Nietzsche, improvisation and the concept of freedom. Roelofs has played as a member of the Concertgebouw Jazz Orchestra and the Vienna Art Orchestra and has collaborated with, among others, Brad Mehldau, Lionel Loueke and the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. Roelofs heads the jazz clarinet department at the Amsterdam Conservatory. www.jorisroelofs.com

Anni Elif’s photo: Vanessa Riki

Joris Roelofs’ photo: Hielke Grootendorst