Info
Inquiries and accreditation
Marketing and communications manager, ms. Niina Eeva, p. +358 45 1477655, niina@umohelsinki.fi
UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra in a nutshell
- UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra is the only professional orchestra in Finland specialized in jazz and new rhythm-oriented music. It is a Helsinki-based professional big band employing top musicians.
- The big band of 16 musicians plays about 100 concerts every year in Finland and abroad.
- The Chief Conductor and Artistic Director is Ed Partyka
- The orchestra plays a diverse range of modern music that is on the pulse of the times. The programme consists from jazz to soul and classical music, mixing old and new in surprising way, from children to senior citizens. By commissioning and presenting as much new material as possible, UMO Helsinki encourages and supports Finnish jazz production.
- Musicians in UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra are some of the best jazz musicians in Finland. There are over 100 musicians, composers, directors and artists working with UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra every year. The band also acts as a hands-on educational establishment for Finnish musicians in the fields of jazz and popular music.
- UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra was founded in 1975 and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025.
- In the past decades, UMO Helsinki has featured with dozens of artist from Dizzy Gillespie to Natalie Cole, Manhattan Transfer and Gregory Porter. Orchestra’s history (in Finnish, sorry!) is seen www.umohelsinki.fi/40.
- UMO Helsinki is highly appreciated and one of the world’s leading big bands.
- UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra has recorded about 60 albums and there are more than 3000 compositions in orchestra’s library.
- The orchestra is administered by the UMO Foundation, which is owned but the city of Helsinki. It is funded by the Ministry of education and culture as well as the city of Helsinki.
- UMO Helsinki is a member of Association of Finnish Symphony Orchestras, Finnish Jazz Federation, European Music Circle and European Jazz Network.
- UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra’s vision, mission and values (2020) can be seen here.
Annual reports
Promotion photos
Please credit the photographer!
UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra in September 2023
Photo by Jukka Rapo
UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra in September 2023
Photo by Jukka Rapo
UMO live
Photo by Heikki Kynsijärvi
UMO live
Photo by Maarit Kytöharju
Teppo Mäkynen & UMO at Glivelab
Photo by Tommi Tapola
UMO trumpets
Photo by Heikki Kynsijärvi
Ed Partyka
Photo by Jazz Podiun
Ed Partyka
Photo by Jazz Podium
Ed Partyka
Photo by Olli Nurmi
UMO Helsinki mobile app
UMO live, Vesa Ojaniemi in bass
Photo by Heikki Kynsijärvi
UMO Helsinki ensemble (Kivivuori, Dunkel, Saarti, Ketola)
Photo by Maarit Kytöharju
Kari Ikonen
Photo by Maarit Kytöharju
Paperi T, Henri Pulkkinen
Photo by Tero Ahonen
Paperi T, Henri Pulkkinen
Photo by Tero Ahonen
Club for five
Photo by Marek Sabogal
Jose Manuel Alvarez
Photo by unknown
Alba Carmona
Photo by unknown
Perico Sambeat
Photo by unknown
Gretchen Parlato
Photo by Lauren Desberg
Pikku Papu Orchestra
Illustration by Liisa Kallio
Dance school ToeStar dancers
Photo by unknown
Logos
Please download UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra’s logos from here.