{"id":11349,"date":"2026-01-17T07:07:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:07:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/?p=11349"},"modified":"2026-01-17T10:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T08:20:16","slug":"viisautta-ja-jazzia-aili-ikonen-ja-seela-sella-avaavat-kesan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/2026\/01\/17\/viisautta-ja-jazzia-aili-ikonen-ja-seela-sella-avaavat-kesan\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom and Jazz \u2013 Aili Ikonen and Seela Sella Open the Summer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Following its 70th anniversary celebrations, the Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4 cultural festival is entering its new decade full of energy and enthusiasm. The theme of the 2026 Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4 is&nbsp;<strong>wisdom<\/strong>, which will be explored in early July through a multifaceted discussion program as well as a multidisciplinary cultural program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This year marks the 100th anniversary of jazz\u2019s symbolic arrival in Finland aboard the Andania. It is therefore a historic anniversary year for Finnish jazz, and Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4 is participating by hosting both Finnish and international guest performers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We will first release the program for our opening concert and the first performers for the Park Festival. More program announcements will be coming in the following weeks!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Aili Ikonen and Seela Sella will star in the opening concert.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4 opens on Wednesday, July 1, with a very distinguished lineup, featuring special guests Aili Ikonen and Seela Sella. This unique concert will take place in the auditorium of the University of Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4\u2019s main building, starting at 6:00 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hailing from Korpilahti, Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4, Aili Ikonen is a top-tier Finnish singer and songwriter, known for her sensitive and masterful interpretations. Ikonen's expressive range starts with jazz and boldly breaks through genre boundaries. The radiant artist's career includes collaborations with various jazz combos, big band productions, and Ella Fitzgerald interpretations. Ikonen is now also known as a member of the vocal group Rajaton. In 2025, Ikonen was awarded the Yrj\u00f6 Award by the Finnish Jazz Federation, one of the most prestigious recognitions in the jazz field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The collaboration between singer-songwriter Aili Ikosen and actress Seela Sella began in 2022, when Sella appeared as a guest on Ikosen\u2019s song \u201dJuosta.\u201d The idea of performing together had already begun to take shape in Ikosen\u2019s mind back then. Now this dream is coming true, as Ikosen\u2019s deeply introspective songs and Sella\u2019s charismatic presence come together in a concert specially tailored for Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The soloist is accompanied on stage by Aili Ikonen's trusted quintet, with whom she has collaborated for over 10 years and five albums:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Janne Toivonen<\/strong>&nbsp;(trumpet)<br><strong>William Suvanne<\/strong>&nbsp;(saxophone)<br><strong>Tuomas J. Turunen<\/strong>&nbsp;(keyboard)<br><strong>Mikko Pellinen<\/strong>&nbsp;(bass)<br><strong>Mikko Arlin<\/strong>&nbsp;(drums)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p><a href=\"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/product\/avajaiskonsertti-aili-ikonen-seela-sella\/\"><strong>Buy tickets to the concert here!<\/strong><\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>70-vuotisjuhlien j\u00e4lkeen kulttuurifestivaali Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4 jatkaa uudelle vuosikymmenelleen virke\u00e4n\u00e4 ja innostuneena. Vuoden 2026 Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4n teemana on&nbsp;viisaus, johon paneudutaan hein\u00e4kuun alussa niin monipuolisen keskusteluohjelman kuin monitaiteisen kulttuuriohjelmankin kautta. T\u00e4n\u00e4 vuonna tulee kuluneeksi 100 vuotta siit\u00e4, kun jazz symbolisesti rantautui Andania-laivan mukana Suomeen. Vuosi on siten historiallinen kotimaisen jazzin juhlavuosi, johon Jyv\u00e4skyl\u00e4n Kes\u00e4 osallistuu sek\u00e4 kotimaisten [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":11012,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-yleinen"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11349"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11349\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11375,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11349\/revisions\/11375"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jyvaskylankesa.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}