With pleasure, Avanti! – Feeling Free at Musiikkitalo 18.9.2020

Guitarist Marzi Nyman, vibraphonist Arttu Takalo and French horn player Tero Toivonen join forces again with the Avant String Quartet. The concert’s repertoire, consisting mostly of compositions by the soloist trio, is a juicy fusion of jazz, classical and popular music. As has been said before about this septet: nothing is what it seems, but everything is what it sounds.

Guitarist Marzi Nyman is known as an incredibly versatile musician. Over the years, Nyman has played guitar in leading jazz bands, composed orchestral works, worked for television and film, and served as conductor of the Espoo Big Band. Nyman has collaborated with Avant several times and at the 2018 Summer Festival Nyman performed as organist together with soprano Anu Koms.

Multi-talented vibraphonist and composer Arttu Takalo came to prominence in the XL band founded by Jarmo Saari, and has also been heard in many other bands and touring ensembles. As a composer who combines styles, Takalo has written music for big bands, chamber and symphony orchestras and arranged music for Ismo Alango, among others. Takalo has released several solo albums, most recently L’Alliance Takalo in 2017.

Tero Toivonen is a versatile musician who plays in the Tapiola Sinfonietta, works as a lecturer of French horn music at the University of the Arts, and is the sound director of the Avant Chamber Orchestra and the Vantaa Entertainment Orchestra’s French horn section. In addition, Toivonen regularly collaborates with rhythm music professionals both in the studio and on concert stages. As a doctor of music, Toivonen has also specialised in public work, which she has done especially with young people all over Finland.

The concert is part of the AUF series, a collaboration between Avant, the UMO Helsinki Jazz Orchestra and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra (FiBO). Top orchestras from different genres invite listeners to a day-long concert to discover a wide range of musical delicacies.