Cultural life in Jyväskylä or Where to go on Friday night? VOL#2 Live Music

          Alongside with being worldwide famous for its prominent cultural heritage, especially in literature: "Kalevala", compiled by Ellias Lönnrot in the 19th century and later "The Moomins" writen by Tove Jansson in the 20th century, Finland is well known internationally thanks to its music scene, already in the 21st century. Coming from under the wing of modern show business, such names as Nightwith, HIM, Apocaliptica, The Rasmus etc. make Finland known across the world from America and Europe all the way to South-East Asia. According to "This is Finland" digital digest's online survey bands mentioned above make it also to the top 10 of most favorite bands among Finnish public. High level of popularity that rock and heavy metal bands gain in Finland can be partially explained by a large number of "heavy" bands in proportion with other genres representatives. According to Encyclopaedia Metallum, Finland is the worlds leader when it comes to number of heavy metal bands per capita, with 54.3 bands per every 100,000 Finns.

Despite heavily disproportional representation of heavy music artists in Finnish live music industry, the live music scene is pretty diverse and depending on your taste you can easily find what suits you best. If you are looking for quality live concerts you can find a wide range of options from classical to opera, jazz, rock, pop, hip hop, folk music and Finnish tango that are appreciated in the "Land of thousand lakes". 

            When you make your plans to listen to live music in Jyväskylä you have quite a few options. At times it might be confusing to make up your mind,  so we at JYU Student Ambassador team decided to make it easier for you and offer you several options:

Classical music:

     Jyväskylän Sinfonia (Jyväskylä Symphony Orchestra), Puistokatu 2 A

Currently performing at the venue of City Theater (Kaupunkiteatteri) with estimated 551 seats, 99% of all concerts has been sold out, on regular basis, for the last decade. Highly professional international artistic family with musicians from all over the world makes Jyväskylän Sinfonia unique and major orchestra, performing classical music in Central Finland. Over 100 performances of both symphonic and chamber music are held annually. If you reside or stay in Jyväskylä for short time you should definitely visit one of the concerts.  More information about Jyväsklän Sinfonia: https://www.jyvaskylasinfonia.fi/en

      Jyväskylä University Simphonic Orchestra "Sinfis", Seminaarinkatu 15

       Sinfis is a symphony orchestra of the University of Jyväskylä. It was founded in 1993. Most of the players are students and the orchestra’s main purpose is to keep up music skills of its members in a nice and relaxed company. Orchestra gives 1-2 concerts every semester. The repertoire varies from classical to movie music, musicals and more. You can also join Sinfis by contacting orchestra conductor. More information about JYU Simphonic Orchestra "Sinfis": http://www.sinfis.net/?page_id=217 

 

Jyväskylä University Wind Orchestra "Puhkupillit", Seminaarinkatu 15

The Jyväskylä University Wind Orchestra consists of about 30 musicians from and outside of the University. Repertoire of the orchestra covers premieres of contemporary music for entertainment as well as classical peaces and hits. More information about JYU Wind Orchestra "Puhkupillit": https://puhkupillit.fi/

Jazz & Folk:

Poppari Live Music Club, Puistokatu 2-4

     Relaxed place with great music and lounge atmosphere. Poppari is well known among local jazz fans as it hosts large number of live jazz shows since 1992. If you love jazz or blues and want to spend quality time with you friends, it is hard to find a better place in Jyväskylä. You can also join open stage and play together with local musicians at legendary jam sessions. During summer time Poppari also hosts a jazz music festival. Located in the heart of Jyväskylä it is a perfect venue to visit when you are out. More information about Poppari: http://ravintolapoppari.fi/ 

Jyväskylä Big Band, Sepänkatu 14

   

      Jyväskylä Big Band (JBB) is a versatile, professional jazz orchestra, which has seen many domestic and foreign top artists as soloists over the years. JBB has performed at several Finnish festivals and toured in Berlin, Amsterdam, Prague, Cuba and St. Petersburg. Big Band has done several productions together with prominent Finnish and international composers.

     More information about Jyväskylä Big Band: https://www.jklbb.fi/

  

       Parnell’s Irish Bar, Väinönkatu 3

          Love atmosphere of noisy and hectic Irish Pub with energetic folk music and busy bartenders? You should check out Parenell's Irish Bar on your free time then. More information about Parnell’s Irish Bar:  http://www.parnells.fi

Rock & Pop:

  Ilokivi (Student Union Building), Keskussairaalantie 2

Love University campus and can't imagine leaving it even after class? Don't worry, Ilokivi got you covered. Apart from stand up nights, theater performances, dance shows and student events you can find all sorts of live music events featuring both local and visiting bands from other parts of Finland. If you like rock, electronic and popular music you might want to check out this place. More details about Ilokivi club: http://www.ilokivi-onstage.com/

    
 Katse Night Club and Karaoke, Väinönkatu 26

For fans of rock, heavy metal and electronic music Katse would be a great fit. Located in the city center it consists of 4 parts: pub, nightclub, disco and karaoke. Live stage features local bands from Jyväskylä as well as visiting bands from other parts of Finland. 





More information about Katse: http://www.katse.bar/

    Tanssisali Lutakko,  Lutakonaukio 3

Run by Jelmu ry legendary Lutakko club has been hosting live shows of both Finnish and international bands for almost 30 years. Well known not only in Finland but internationally it is "the venue" to host world's leading artists and bands who ever decide to visit Central Finland. With its long rock history Lutakko hosts all sorts of music events from heavy metal to pop, indie rock, electronic etc. A flexible pricing policy allows all categories of visitors enjoy diverse and rich music scene.

More information about Tanssisali Lutakko: https://www.jelmu.net/
 
In the next posts we will expand on cultural life of Jyväskylä and provide you more tips and suggest more places to spend your free time like cultural events and prominent landmarks of Jyväskylä. You don't want to miss next edition of this blog! :)
        To catch up with more news about up-coming cultural events in Jyväskylä you are welcome to join : Jyväskylä Art Network group on Facebook, where more updates and information about upcoming events are published (community is maintained by Nordic Art Network ry).

      Photo credits for this blog post: Google images; Husky Speaks photography ; ALM studios media production

        Have a great Friday and a weekend ahead!
   
        Oleksiy Kovalenko, Student ambassador

        MSc International Business and Entrepreneurship