Sointi Jazz Orchestra is known for its carefully curated concert programmes and open-minded attitude to new music. Since 2013, the band has delighted audiences with numerous interesting premieres, both on its own and in collaboration with leading Finnish and international soloists.

Poems and Letters is a concert work composed by Oskari Siirtola for Sointi Jazz Orchestra and a vocalist. It explores the nature of artistic life in the early modernist period, around the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, through the writings of prominent visual artists of the era. The lyrics feature excerpts from letters, poems and other writings by, among others, Vincent van Gogh, Ellen Thesleff and Egon Schiele.

Musically, Poems and Letters combines modern jazz with influences drawn from both art music and popular music. Rich tones, multidimensional textures and the spontaneous energy of jazz improvisation reflect the modernists’ liberated use of colour and bold artistic expression.

The vocalist is the rising Finnish jazz star, singer and composer Selma Savolainen, whose album Horror Vacui won the Emma Award for Best Jazz Album in 2024.

Poems and Letters premiered in autumn 2025.