Greetings from the artistic director!

15.3.2022

I remember not even thinking for a second when Bosse Mellberg asked about my interest in being the artistic director of the festival this year. The immediate answer was “yes, definitely!” This proud
and enthusiastic response to Bosse arose from the unforgettable influence that Korpo Sea Jazz left on me after performing there a few years ago with the Bowman Trio. I felt that I was then so warmly welcomed by the audience, the festival staff and the other artists.
The atmosphere, the music, the sea, nature and the fantastic weather (which according to information provided by Bosse, is in order again this year) made the festival experience unforgettable. I look forward to July when I get to enjoy all this again during the festival, with you.

Being an artistic director felt like the biggest task so far in my career and at first I even experienced some budding “impostor syndrome” in my new assignment. The planning of the program still started smooth and quick when I started thinking about key factors regarding the artists.
I considered it important that the artists at the festival are in some way relevant in the summer of 2022, that is, either that they have recently released, or are about to release new music during the year.
The program now contains a lot of music that will be released this year. I personally think that as a musician I am quite versatile – at least I enjoy listening and playing a lot of different music. I also wanted this to be seen in the festival program, and I think I have succeeded in that. I would love to experience every concert myself too! Something I also wanted to respect in the program is what over the years has characterized Korpo Sea Jazz, namely that the concert venues and artists fit together.

The planning of the festival program has been a great honor and I am very grateful that I have been given the opportunity to participate. Fortunately, the best is still ahead of us – the festival itself. Looking forward to it!

See you in Korppoo!
Tomi Nikku
Artistic director
2022