Seven candidates compete for the 2024 Teosto Prize
The nominees are MELO‘s album m<3lo, Outi Tarkiainen’s composition Polar Pearls, Minna Leinonen’s composition …and we are rotating with it, Tinyhawk & Bizzarro’s album Nekorok, Orvokki’s album Kasvotusten, Verneri Pohjola’s album Monkey Mind and Vilma Jää’s album Kosto.
The nominees were selected by a jury consisting of journalist Katri Norrlin, journalist and radio presenter Laura Vähähyyppä, DJ researcher Mikko Mattlar, blogger Pasi “Jazzpossu” Virtanen and journalists Sonja Saarikoski, Oskari Onninen and Auli Särkiö-Pitkänen.
The Teosto Prize recognises bold and innovative musical works. The jury felt that this year’s nominees embodied these qualities in the following ways:
The works of rapper Niko Katavainen aka MELO and his workgroup on the album m<3lo are pop music of their own time, combining the dark and dramatic electro-aesthetics of the late 2010s with an easily assimilated emotional expression.
Outi Tarkiainen’s composition Polar Pearls makes inventive use of chamber orchestral instruments, creating a whole that combines brilliant orchestration with a concern for the effects of climate change in northern nature.
Minna Leinonen’s composition …and we are rotating with it brings new elements to the long tradition of the string quartet, and uses extended playing techniques in an organic way.
The compositions by Jenni Kinnunen and the arrangements by Jenni Kinnunen and her team on Tinyhawk & Bizzarro’s album Nekorok smoothly combine different musical styles and give a fresh breeze to the Finnish electric guitar tradition.
Orvokki Oittila’s works on Orvokki’s album Kasvotusten are genuinely creative, experimental and thoughtful pop music, where electronic music bends into danceable, cinematic and touching.
Jazz trumpeter Verneri Pohjola’s compositions on Monkey Mind are the synthesis of his career to date, where big melodies meet open soundscapes that inspire improvisation.
The compositions by Vilma Jää and Mikko Renfors, the lyrics by Vilma Jää and the arrangements by Vilma Jää, Mikko Renfors, Hanna Ryynänen and the working group on Vilma Jää’s album Kosto combine folk music, modern pop and trauma in an original way.
The winner or winners of the Teosto Prize will be announced after mid-April. The prize of €40 000 can be divided between up to four works. If only one winner is chosen, the prize will be €25 000.
