Singing till the songs come home
Sanni Orasmaa: voice and piano
Villa Hakasalmi was once the home of Aurora Karamzin — a house that pulsed with hospitality and took every arrival into open arms. Tonight, singer Sanni Orasmaa sits down at the grand piano. The concert has a frame but no script: the program takes shape around those who have come, its substance rising from conversation and encounter.
For more than thirty years Orasmaa has carried her voice from the stages of New York to the concert halls of Europe and back to the Finnish landscape. In solo, voice and piano wind into a single, freely breathing arc: familiar songs taken apart and rebuilt, stripped bare and present, a little different in shape each time.
Jazz came to Finland as a guest that was made our own. Orasmaa's solo continues that same journey: what was carried from far away is sung home.
"Distinctive, open and soulful" — Helsingin Sanomat
"Exceptionally fine" — Jazzrytmit
"Mesmerizing sweetness" — DownBeat
Singer and jazz musician Sanni Orasmaa is one of the pioneers of vocal jazz and jazz pedagogy in Finland. Known for her versatility and gift for improvisation, she has collaborated in Finland with RinneRadio and Mika Pohjola, among others, and internationally with names including Ron McClure and Charlie Hunter. Orasmaa lived in New York from 2000 to 2007, building a career in clubs and festivals across three continents. Alongside her teaching at Finnish institutions, she has taught in the jazz department of the Brooklyn Conservatory and at several universities abroad.
Photo: Hanna Anttila
The concert is supported by City of Helsinki, Svenska Kulturfonden and The Finnish Music Foundation.
The concert is part of the Jazz in Finland 100 Anniversary
Hakasalmen huvila • Mannerheimintie 13 B, 00100 Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
