FINLANDIA FOUNDATION NATIONAL 

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE RECIPIENTS  JUSSI MAKKONEN AND NAZIG AZEZIAN RECORD IN THE UNITED STATES 

In recent years, Cellist Jussi Makkonen and pianist Nazig Azezian have made Finnish and especially Jean Sibelius’ music more widely known in their dozens of concerts across the Unites States. These concerts, sponsored and organised by the Finlandia Foundation National, have reached thousands of listeners at festivals and concert halls, and also at schools, churches, libraries, universities, cultural centres, embassies and consulates. The Sibelius-themed school concerts that have reached a high popularity in Finland have become also become a phenomenon in American schools. For most of the children, the concerts have been their first contact with classical music and the Finnish culture. Besides their traditional and narrative concerts, Makkonen and Azezian have been performing their Sibelius Inspiration multimedia concert that they have created in co-operation with American-Finnish director Aira Vehaskari. The multimedia concert had its premiere at the Orpheum Theater in New Orleans in 2015, presenting Sibelius’ music in an exceptional way, in combination with nature-themed videos that were filmed in Finland. The light and sound design of the multimedia concert, its forest-themed stage set, and the artists’ concert costumes created by Finnish fashion designer Mert Otsamo provide a unique setting for the concert and for experiencing Finnish classical music in the United States.  

Cellist Jussi Makkonen (Master of Music) and pianist Nazig Azezian (Master of Music) established their co-operation in 2013. Makkonen and Azezian’s concerts, records, books and music videos have reached hundreds of thousands of listeners in Finland and other countries. By the end of 2017, their concerts for schoolchildren had already reached over half a million children. Their concert tours have taken the artists to the United States, Mexico, Turkey, and many European countries, among other places. In the autumn of 2017, Makkonen and Azezian received a platinum record for their Melody Forest CD, recorded in Ainola and included in the Melody Forest book, as the first Finnish chamber music record to sell platinum. 

Jussi Makkonen has played in the United States regularly since 2007. As of 2009, he has performed in events and concerts organised by the Finlandia Foundation in different parts of the United States. In 2015, the Finlandia Foundation National organised a Sibelius jubilee year tour in the United States, including Jussi Makkonen and pianist Ruusamari Teppo, a descendant of Jean Sibelius. The tour included 29 concerts at universities, schools, festivals, concert halls and churches across the Unites States (Seattle, Astoria, Pasadena, San Diego, Tucson, Sunnyvale, Washington D.C. and Baltimore). Pianist Nazig Azezian debuted in the Unites States in 2015 together with cellist Jussi Makkonen in their Sibelius Inspiration multimedia concerts (New York and New Orleans).  In 2017, the Finlandia Foundation National organised their large-scale Finland centenary celebration year tour (Lake Worth, Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Denver, Boston and New York) that included nine performances and concerts in total, including the Union Club of the City of New York, the Seattle Pacific University, and a concert series at the San Diego Central Library, among other places. The artists were requested to perform at many high-level events in honour of the centenary celebration year of Finland: Maria Lohela, Speaker of the Parliament of Finland, gave a speech at an event held in Florida, and former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari was the keynote speaker of the Finland Centennial Forum in New York. In 2018, Makkonen and Azezian performed at the Finnish embassy at the Consular Corps College gala in Washington D.C. and visited Arlington to perform for the children of a local day-care centre. In the spring of 2019, Makkonen and Azezian performed in a library concert series in Fallbrook and for the local schoolchildren, at the Balboa Park in San Diego, and at the official residence of the Finnish Consul General in Los Angeles. At California State University Channel Islands, they gave a lecture for students besides performing a concert. Azezian and Makkonen promoted Finland through Sibelius’ music at a school close to the university. 

The Melody Forest book and record, released in Finnish, Swedish and English in 2015, were created by Makkonen and Azezian and illustrated by Katri Kirkkopelto. The book and record were distributed to every Finnish elementary school with the support of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. In the same year, the Melody Forest book and record were distributed to every Finnish school in the United States with the support of the Finlandia Foundation National.  

The Blue Bird book and record were released in February 2019, continuing the legacy of the successful Melody Forest project, created by illustrator and writer Katri Kirkkopelto, Makkonen and Azezian and released in Jean Sibelius’ anniversary year 2015. The Blue Bird record consists of new music by composer Jonne Valtonen, created at the request of Makkonen and Azezian. On the Blue Bird record, Makkonen and Azezian interpret Valtonen’s composition as soloists of the Vaasa City Orchestra conducted by James Lowe. As of next year, Makkonen and Azezian will perform the Blue Bird and other compositions in the Unites States as a duo and soloists for orchestras.