Mikko Innanen Autonomus and Halo strings

Mikko Innanen Autonomus

Mikko Innanen: saxophones, Håvard Wiik (NO): piano, Antti Lötjönen: double bass and Peter Bruun (DK): drums

Halo Strings

Maija Linkola: violin, Elina Viitasaari: violin, Petri Kumela: guitar and Lotta Poijärvi: viola

Hietsu is Happening! Event will be opened by self-directed and intuitive quartet Mikko Innanen Autonomus and Halo Strings on November 22^nd.

Saxophonist Mikko Innanen, pianist Håvard Wiik, bassist Antti Lötjönen and drummer Peter Bruun will present material from the 2019 debut album I-XXX, which is based on Innanen’s freely drawn, sculptural staves.

Halo Strings, a new string quartet led by Maija Linkola, will bring its unique flavour to the evening of November, interpreting the works of the I-XXX composition series together and separately with Autonomus.

In collaboration with the Helsinki Jazz ry, the Vapaat Äänet Agency and Hietsun Paviljonki. Helsinki Jazz is supported by the City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden and Music Finland LIVE (The Finnish Music Foundation).

Saxophonist Mikko Innanen’s Autonomus is a four-piece ensemble, a series of compositions and a musical philosophy. The quartet of top Nordic players examines and interprets Innanen’s compositions in a self-directed manner and in a different way each time they perform. Innanen composed 40 works in the program in the winter of 2018-19. The compositions are diary-like. The guiding idea was to embrace musical ideas as they come and strive to record them without thinking too much and valuing them.

Mikko Innanen (b. 1978 in Lapinjärvi) has had an extensive international career as a saxophonist, composer, conductor and soloist. His other line-ups include Mikko Innanen 10+, Mikko Innanen & Innkvisitio, Gourmet, PLOP and Innanen / Pasborg / Piromalli. Innanen received the Finnish Jazz Federation’s Yrjö Prize in 2008. The other members of the quartet, Norwegian pianist Håvard Wiik, bassist Antti Lötjönen and Danish drummer Peter Bruun, are all strong and personal musicians. Likewise, the strong and personal musicians of the Halo Strings Quartet create their own unique sound worlds.

Autonomus is touring Finland, organized by the Vapaat Äänet agency, and Mikko Innanen tells about the tour: “I look forward to exploring the possibilities offered by the Autonomus programme on tour. Each concert is a unique entity. The background idea of the composition series is to create music in which each player has a genuine opportunity to interpret each piece as they wish at their chosen moment. Hopefully our quartet’s internal interaction will spark up to the back rows of benches.

For more information about the tour:

www.vapaataanet.fi/mikko-innanen-autonomus-on-tour-in-finland-and-lithuania-in-november-2021/

Photo: Maarit Kytöharju

Helsinki Jazz is supported by City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden and The Finnish Music Foundation.

State Prize for Music: Hietsu is Happening ry and Klassinen Hietsu ry for music activities at Hietsun Paviljonki

Hietsun Paviljonki (“Hietsu Pavilion”) has enriched the music life of Töölö and Helsinki for years. Two working groups, Hietsu is Happening ry and Klassinen Hietsu ry, operate in the same premises. Both groups are made up of open-minded, bold and above all brilliant artists.

The programme always puts quality first while still being open-minded and unafraid to take risks. The goal of the working groups has been to encourage artists to try something new, unknown and challenging. The concerts creatively combine classical, jazz, improvisation, literature, dance and the visual arts.

The members Hietsu is Happening ry and Klassinen Hietsu ry have long set an example of how important it is to challenge oneself, look for new things and take risks. This is conveyed in the richly diverse concerts, which have made Hietsu Pavilion the most interesting local actor in Helsinki and thereby an encouraging example for the entire Finnish music field.