Heli Hartikainen

Heli Hartikainen is an award-winning saxophonist, clarinetist, composer, and sound artist whose music merges experimental sonic textures with hypnotic, evolving soundscapes. As a saxophonist, Hartikainen is a passionate instrumentalist who, in each performance, continually pushes the limits of their instrument, themself, and the possibilities of sound technology ever further. Their debut solo album CHRONOVARIATIONS, which utilizes 3D audio technology, won the Finnish Critics’ Association’s honorary prize in 2025 for the year’s most significant artistic breakthrough and was nominated for the Emma Awards, the Finnish equivalent of the Grammys, for Best Jazz Album of 2024.

CRITICAL ACCLAIM:
”While parts of this album could likewise fit in with the current “ambient jazz” trend, most of it is a
tantalising mystery; indescribable, indecipherable long slabs of sound and melody, coupled with a
sinewy physical and emotional power.”
FINNISH MUSIC QUARTERLY

“Phenomenal – A true musical experience, as an immersive sonic world of ambience
and experimentalism blends with an array of influences.”
THE MOST RADICALIST

”Helsinki-based Heli Hartikainen’s saxophone rarely sounds like one. Chronovariations sees
them attaching electromagnetic speakers to scrap metal sheets and pipes, and using these objects
as secondary sound sources. Low-pitched drones and hymnal sax improvisations are drenched in
reverb and accompanied by spectral creaks, metallic rattles and shimmering effects.”
THE GUARDIAN

”I got to listen to the album for almost 15 minutes before I had to return to the soundscape
of family life, and those were the best 15 minutes I’ve had in a long time. It was a cleansing ritual.
The turntable, the vinyl, and the concreteness of the sound grounded me in this world, but the
music set me free from it.”
FINNISH NATIONAL BROADCAST

“All the sounds apparently originated from their tenor sax, shape-shifting from a rich, warm
sound to a rough-edged keening, at times echoing the more soulful side of John Surman or
Jan Garbarek (ECM should snap them up while they have a chance).
– – mind-expanding journey”
JAZZ JOURNAL UK

”The instrument bangs, clicks, hisses, and puffs. Hartikainen creates spatial sounds
and a contemplatively painterly soundscape. Indeed, they break boundaries. There’s an
experimenter in them.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
KULTTUURITOIMITUS