Jazz for Kids: Oona Mattsson & Riitta Paakki

Jazz for Kids concerts welcome everyone from babies to grandparents! Professional musicians perform their own work at a child-friendly volume in the lobby.

Jazz for Kids is a series of high-quality jazz concerts for everyone from babies to grandparents! Professional musicians perform their work at child-friendly volumes in the easily accessible lobbies of the City’s cultural centres.

The musicians of the newly formed Luotsi band, alto saxophonist and flutist Oona Mattsson and pianist Riitta Paakki, will perform a fascinating selection of Finnish jazz originals and their own compositions to celebrate the Jazz in Finland 100 anniversary year. With both familiar and less-heard gems for jazz audiences, interpreted in a contemporary way, the focus of the concert is not only on history but also on the future.

Oona Mattsson has performed with many well-known Finnish jazz musicians, both in big bands and smaller ensembles. Her playing can be heard on recordings such as the albums released by Kanvas and Siina Suutarinen in spring 2025. Riitta Paakki is an acclaimed jazz musician, composer and bandleader who received the Finnish Jazz Federation’s Yrjö Award in 2019. She has released seven albums with her own bands.

The duration of the event is 45 minutes. The band will perform for about 35 minutes, after which the audience can come greet the musicians and see the instruments.

Oona Mattsson – alto saxophone
Riitta Paakki – piano

The Jazz for Kids operating model of the Finnish Jazz Federation and City of Helsinki Cultural Centres is based on the concert series of the same name, which has been organised at the Espoo Cultural Centre since 2015 in cooperation with Espoo Music Institute’s pop/jazz line Ebeli. The concept was developed by Ebeli, the pop/jazz line at Espoo Music Institute.

2026 marks the 100th anniversary of jazz symbolically landing in Finland on the ship Andania. Thus, the year is a historic celebration of Finnish jazz: the Jazz in Finland 100 centenary. The centenary will highlight Finnish jazz and its artists both in Finland and abroad, and celebrate jazz as part of the Finnish cultural heritage. The Jazz in Finland 100 campaign is coordinated by the Finnish Jazz Federation.

KOHDEYRHMÄ: lapset, perheet
KESTO: 45 min