KOLIZIO

Jukka Eskola is a Finnish trumpet player who ranks among the most sought-after jazz artists in Finland. He has become known as the leader of the Jukka Eskola Quintet, Jukka Eskola Orquesta Bossa, Jukka Eskola Soul Trio, and as a member of The Five Corners Quintet, Finland’s most successful jazz outfit to date. He is widely considered as one of the key instrumentalists of his generation in Finnish jazz.

Eskola’s solo albums ”Jukka Eskola” (2005), ”Hub Up” (only released in Japan, 2006), ”Walkover” (2009), “Jukka Eskola Orquesta Bossa” (2013), “Jukka Eskola Soul Trio” (2017) and the trio’s second album “Steamy!” (2019) have stabilized his position at the forefront of internationally noted jazz from Finland. Jukka Eskola is also a very used session player in the Finnish TV and recording scene, and has featured in well over 200 albums. Jukka’s latest solo album “Nordic Stew” is a widely celebrated and interesting collaboration with the Finnish sax player Timo Lassy and a group of number one jazz players from the New Orleans jazz scene.

Jukka Eskola is working with several projects, and performing as soloist for orchestras and big bands, please see GIGS for more.

photo: Tero Ahonen

Trumpeter Pasi Pirinen is Professor of Brass Instruments at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and Principal Trumpet of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Prior to joining the Helsinki Philharmonic Pirinen served a Principal Trumpet of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His very first orchestral engagements were as Principal Trumpet of the Córdoba Symphony and of the San Luis Chamber Orchestra in Argentina.

Pirinen started his instrumental studies in his hometown of Tornio in northern Finland and later attended the junior department of Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He studied under the tutelage of John Miller, Paul Cosh and Paul Archibald at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, after which private studies took him to Michael Sachs in Cleveland, US and to Antoine Curé in Paris.

In 1998 Pirinen won 1st Prize in the ITG Ellsworth Smith Trumpet Competition in the US and in 1987 2nd Prize in the Concertino Praga Competition. He was chosen 'Brass Player of the Year' by the Lieksa Brass Festival in Finland in 1999.

Pirinen regularly teaches masterclasses in the most renowned conservatoires around the world. He frequently serves as a member of jury in prestigious international trumpet competitions, including the Theo Charlier Competition in Brussels, Città di Porcia in Italy, Aeolus in Düsseldorf, and most recently as Chair of the 2023 International Philip Jones Brass Ensemble Competition in Birmingham.

Pirinen has appeared as guest Principal Trumpet with a wide range of orchestras, notably with groups such as Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London Sinfonietta, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, and also on period instruments with the Finnish Baroque Orchestra.

As an active soloist Pirinen has played first performances of many contemporary works, including concertos by composers Erik Bergman, Jouni Kaipainen, Harri Wessman and Anthony Plog. Notable performances in the contemporary genre also include the trumpet concerto by Peter Maxwell-Davies, Requiem by Hans Werner Henze and Luciano Berio�´s Sequenza X.

His critically acclaimed discography includes albums 'Heptade' and an album of trumpet concertos by Haydn, Kaipainen and Tomasi with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and conductor Hannu Lintu released by the Alba label.

Pirinen has appeared as soloist under conductors such as Sakari Oramo, Okko Kamu, Leif Segerstam, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Gennadi Roshdestvensky, John Storgårds, Hannu Lintu, Roberto Minchzuk and Grant Llewellyn.

Pasi Pirinen is a Yamaha Artist.

Photo: Kaapo Kamu

Antti Rissanen (b. 1975) started his musical career at the age of 6 with piano lessons and was soon familiarized with improvisation as the piano lessons were based on the Suzuki method where listening and producing own music are essential. In the wind instrument orchestra of his elementary school Rissanen chose euphonium as his main instrument which then was replaced with trombone in the Junior Big Band of Kotka when Rissanen was 13-years-old. Rissanen anyway continued the classical piano lessons in the Junior Academy of Sibelius Academy in 1991-1995, despite of the main instrument trombone.

Rissanen was accepted to the jazz department of Sibelius Academy in 1994. A year after he moved to Germany for three years to study under american trombonist Jiggs Whigham. In Germany Rissanen won second prize in the international composing competition of the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt in 1996 and a couple years later he also won the jazztrombone competition of the International Trombone Association in U.S..

The studies at Sibelius Academy continued in 1997 but were interrupted again in 1999 when Rissanen moved to New York to study in The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music for a year. Despite of the abrupted studies and years abroad Rissanen was able to graduate from SIbelius Academy as the first jazztrombonist ever in 2001. The most important band for Rissanen at that time was Mr. Fonebone, a quintet formed with saxophonist Mikko Innanen, that toured around Finland in spring 1998 and organized series of concerts the next year where Canadian trumpetist Ingrid Jensen featured as a soloist. The band has re-activated for gigs in Finland once in a while and also performed actively abroad, i.a. in Germany and Iceland.

In 21st century Rissanen has led also the electric groovejazz band, Antti Rissanen Electric Band, and Nordic Project which he formed with New Yorker bass player Ted Trimble. The band did a tour organized by the Jazz Federation in fall 2004 and is, according to Rissanen, ready to active for gigs when needed. Rissanen has also played in the septet of Teemu Salminen and drummer Jussi Lehtonen's band In the Spirit of Jaco Pastorius. Rissanen played with UMO for the first time in the middle of 1990's but has had time for the big band more after returning to Finland. He made his debut as the conductor of UMO in his own composition concert in 1999 and since January 2007 he has shared the place as the 1. trombonist with Jari Hongisto.

Besides playing trombone, Rissanen conducts big bands and composes music for them. As a permanent conductor of Imatra Big Band he has been since 2004 but he has also conducted many other distinguished Finnish big bands, like Settlement Big Band, Stadia Big Band, UMO and Espoo Big Band. In July 2005 the first Antti Rissanen trombone competition was organized and it is now arranged every third year.

Rissanen himself has gained lots of attention during his career: besides all the prizes he has won, he was also issued with the Brassplayer of the Year recognition by Lieksa's Brassweek in 2002. On of the highlights of his career, according to Rissanen himself, has been the arrangement of the international trombone festival in Helsinki in 2003.

photo: Jukka Rapo
English bio: jazzfinland.fi

Valtteri Malmivirta studied trombone at the Sibelius Academy, graduating with a Master of Music degree, and at the Royal College of Music in London in 1988-92. Prior to his current position as the principal trombone of the Helsinki City Orchestra, he played in the Finnish National Opera Orchestra from 1993 to 1998. Malmivirta is also an active soloist and chamber musician. He has a particularly close relationship with the Avant Chamber Orchestra. He is also passionate about jazz music.

He has performed as a soloist with several Finnish orchestras and has premiered works written for him by many Finnish composers, such as Jouni Kaipainen's trombone concerto. Malmivirta was the Artistic Director of the International Trombone Festival ITF 2003. He teaches trombone at the Sibelius Academy.

Oulu Sinfonia trombonist Jukka Myllys has performed as a soloist on the eufonium in various ensembles such as Helsinki City Orchestra, Tampere Filharmonia, Washington U.S. Army Symphony, Chicago Brass, Gävle Symphony, Bergen Brass and Georgia Brass. Myllys has premiered and recorded a lot of new music for domestic and foreign labels.

Jukka Myllys has conducted the wind orchestra Vivent, leading them to six Finnish championships and has also served as the conductor of the Nordic Barents Composer Orchestra. He was the artistic director and conductor of the Kemi City Orchestra from 2007 to 2014.

Jukka Myllys has been elected as the Brass Player of the Year, Military Brass Player of the Year, Oulu Province Young Artist of the Year, and has received the "Pinna of the Year" award. He currently teaches baritone trumpet at the Sibelius Academy.

photo: Kati Leinonen