Top Jazz with a Museum Ticket at Forum Marinum!

16.7.2024

The maritime jazz festival Turku Sea Jazz and the maritime center Forum Marinum are strengthening their collaboration this summer. During the festival week from July 31 to August 3, top names in Finnish jazz will perform in various areas of the maritime museum from morning till evening. The festival kicks off early on Wednesday, July 17, in the champagne bar of the Suomen Joutsen to mark the start of The Tall Ships Races event!

This summer, Turku Sea Jazz spreads to the museum spaces of Forum Marinum. In the festival’s new series for museum musicians, top Finnish jazz names from Linda Fredriksson to Severi Pyysalo will perform short 15-minute sets in various parts of the museum from 10 AM to 3 PM for the enjoyment of exhibition visitors.

On the opening day of Turku Sea Jazz on July 31, musicians from the band Superposition – Olavi Louhivuori, Adele Sauros, Mikael Saastamoinen, and Linda Fredriksson – will perform together and separately in the museum. On Thursday, August 1, attendees can watch the rehearsals of a girls’ jazz camp and the camp’s final concert at 1 PM in the Boat Shed. After the concert, the jazz camp instructors, bassists Kaisa Mäensivu and Jussi Karhujoki, will perform their own music sets in various parts of the museum from 2:30 PM to 4:30 PM.

On Friday, August 2, double bassist Ville Herrala and the duo Eero Koivistoinen & Alexi Tuomarila will perform in the museum spaces from 10 AM to 3 PM, and on Saturday, August 3, the museum musicians will be vibraphonists Olli Virtanen and Severi Pyysalo.

Additionally, on Friday, August 2, at 4 PM, a concert by the Eero Koivistoinen Quartet will be held in the new champagne bar on the museum frigate Suomen Joutsen. The quartet’s swing, born from the long collaboration between saxophone legend Eero Koivistoinen and pianist Alexi Tuomarila, is airy yet tight. The concert will feature both Koivistoinen’s own compositions and jazz classics.

Both the performances on the museum grounds and the Suomen Joutsen can be accessed with a regular museum ticket.

The intensified event collaboration delights both museum staff and jazz organizers.

“Jazz is now becoming part of Forum Marinum’s event offerings for the third summer. The maritime center’s environment is one of the city’s best event areas, and a cozy jazz festival is exactly the kind of program we want to establish in connection with the maritime museum,” says Ulla Teräs, CEO of Forum Marinum.

Jussi Fredriksson, the executive director of Jazz City Turku ry, which organizes Turku Sea Jazz, is also pleased with the collaboration: “The festival experience of Turku Sea Jazz is becoming even more diverse! The surroundings of Forum Marinum are perfect for a maritime festival, and this summer we are diving even deeper into the spaces of the maritime museum. We’ve found great synergy with the museum, so welcome to enjoy jazz with a museum ticket!”

Turku Sea Jazz kicks off early on the Suomen Joutsen on Wednesday, July 17, at 2 PM, with a performance by the namesake ensemble of the Archipelago Sea Jazz festival series, led by clarinet master Antti Sarpila, in the museum ship’s champagne bar. The ensemble, consisting of jazz influencers from Turku, Åland, and the Archipelago Sea, will offer cheerful swing music and welcome the audience to the The Tall Ships Races event on the Aura Riverfront.

Turku Sea Jazz’s evening concerts, which require an entrance fee, will be held on August 2-3, 2024, in the atmospheric Boat Shed of Forum Marinum. Turku Sea Jazz is produced by Jazz City Turku ry and is one of four festivals in the maritime-inspired Archipelago Sea Jazz series, which also includes Baltic Jazz, Korpo Sea Jazz, and Åland Sea Jazz.