Brandee Younger with UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra

American Brandee Younger has almost single-handedly introduced the harp into contemporary jazz. Recording for the famed Impulse! Records, Younger has worked tirelessly to push the boundaries and possibilities of her instrument for the past 15 years. Younger has performed and recorded with several jazz, soul and hip hop greats, including Pharoah Sanders, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Drake, Charlie Haden, Common, John Legend, Moses Sumney, The Roots, Stevie Wonder and Lauryn Hill. Younger’s music was also featured in Beyoncé’s Homecoming tour film.

The evening begins with one of our most internationally-successful folk musicians, the kantele artist, multi-instrumentalist and singer Maija Kauhanen. Kauhanen’s music combines powerful vocals, expressive kantele playing and groovy percussions – a pulse woven by polyrhythms and beats mixed with hypnotic melodies – to form a unique soundscape created by a single musician.