KIMMO POHJONEN / MARIA JOÃO @ OFFest 2025

KIMMO POHJONEN  – 6 June • National Opera & Ballet • 20:00

KIMMO POHJONEN accordion

https://kimmopohjonen.com/

Kimmo Pohjonen is known for revolutionizing accordion music. Pohjonen’s way of playing and producing sounds is exceptional at a global level. Pohjonen is one of the few artists to create a genre of his own through his compositions and unique projects. He’s been touring the world regularly for decades, playing in festivals, events and venues of all genres. An accordionist of exceptional ability and imagination, Kimmo’s musical history goes back more than twenty years in rock, folk, avant-garde, improvisation, classical, dance and theatre music projects. His extreme and original compositions, live loops and effects, a dynamic and animated stage performance is what put him on the world map. Just like his music, the career and taste development of Kimo Pohjonen are quite unusual. He picks up the accordion at the age of 8 and grows up playing finish folk music with the family’s dance band. At some point, he explores the Louisiana Cajun music, the Texas accordion styles and eventually moves to Buenos Aires to learn the tango Nuevo and Astor Piazzolla. Pohjonen graduated with a Master of Music degree at the prestigious Sibelius Academy, where he is a visiting teacher.

MARIA JOÃO Abundância – 6 June • National Opera & Ballet • 22:00

MARIA JOÃO voice JOÃO FARINHA keyboards and electronics
HORTENSIO LANGA drums
MARIANA RAMOS backing vocals
INÊS ALMEIDA backing vocals
MARIANA BRISSOS backing vocals
https://www.facebook.com/mariajoaomgrancha/

Maria João has recently released a new album in celebration of her 40-year career. “Abundância” (2025) is a record of a return to her roots, recorded between Mozambique and Lisbon. In Mozambique she had the participation of some local musicians and the recording of a marvelous choir that leaves its mark on this work, produced by the electronic master Luis Fernandes. Maria João’s always open-ended story again brings a new vision that can go from jazz to electronica in a single song and reduce the setting for her voice to the notes of the instruments. Maria João’s name is indelibly linked to the history of Portuguese jazz. More than 40 years ago, in 1983, her debut at Orfeu with the eponymous recording by the Maria João Quintet marked the beginning of a unique path. Her work is a manifestation of freedom that has taken her from the deepest acoustic traditions to the electronic present with the same ease. Maria João is a globally recognized living treasure. The future is always the best place, believes the singer who over the decades has been an active voice in various fruitful partnerships, from Mário Laginha to Carlos Bica, Aki Takase, Andre Mehmari, Ogre Collective, Egberto Gismonti, Joe Zawinul, Trilok Gurtu… With “Abundância” she again crossed musical bridges between the past and the future, jazz and world music, rhythm and melody. After Lisbon, OFFest is the first concert premiere of her new work.