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UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra

UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra is the only professional orchestra in Finland specialised in jazz and new rhythm-oriented music. The big band of 16 musicians plays about 100 concerts every year in Finland and abroad. 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. 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 the orchestra every year. The band also acts as a hands-on educational establishment for Finnish musicians in the fields of jazz and popular music.

Maria Schneider & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra at Savoy Theater, Helsinki

by Artur Moral
November 28, 2025

Maria Schneider & UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra Savoy-teatteri Helsinki, Finland November 13, 2025 The Finnish jazz community is celebrating--and by extension, so are those of Europe and, truth be told, the entire world. The reason is no small matter: the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra marks its 50th anniversary, remaining faithful to the principles that have made it one of the most compelling European ensembles active today. Arguably the most creative, versatile and experimental--within the boundaries ...

Recording

UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers
February 1, 2022

Jazz orchestras in America have dwindled to a precious few. Once a dominant jazz aggregation from the 1920s into the early 1970s, the big band tradition is now largely a museum piece relegated to repertory institutions on the receiving end of sizable donor support. Or they are in the entertainment divisions of the four branches of the military. In all fairness, how else can large instrumental ensembles survive when so many musicians are required on a consistent basis, original music ...
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