School visits

UMO Helsinki organises concerts and workshops for schoolchildren and students, from daycare up to upper secondary school. Focusing on music education aspects, the concerts are designed to introduce children and adolescents to the concept of a big band and the music that has been written for that ensemble for almost a century now. School visits also introduce young audience members to concert attendance practices and customs while supporting music teachers at schools in teaching the history of jazz, which is part of the curriculum.

A typical school visit week begins in the classroom, with the band introducing the pupils to the history of UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and how the orchestra operates. Also the sections and instruments of a big band are introduced as well as the improvisation. At the end of the school visit, UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra gives a concert at full strength for the entire school, performing traditional big band works that the pupils are unlikely to hear anywhere else.

”The idea is to let them know that all this great music is out there and to provide them with the experience of hearing it performed live.”

Teemu Salminen
ex-saxofonist of UMO Helsinki

UMO Helsinki is available for school visits in the Greater Helsinki area by agreement, and elsewhere in the country too when on tour. Visits are customised to the needs of the hosts and are free of charge, although the hosts are welcome to make a voluntary donation towards the orchestra’s expenses.

Further information and inquiries:
Henriika Steidel-Luoto
henriika@umohelsinki.fi
+358 40 411 3514