Eero Koivistoinen (b. Jan 13, 1946), saxopohone player (tenor and soprano) composer, arranger, conductor and educator. Koivistoinen is one of the most renowned Finnish jazz musicians of all time, has been a mainstay of the Finnish music scene since the mid-1960s.

In 1967, Koivistoinen received the very first Georgie Award granted by the newly-founded Finnish Jazz Federation. Since then, he has won several competitions for musicians and composers both in Finland and abroad.

Eero’s quartet won the First Prize in Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland, 1969 for jazz ensembles. This gave his quatet an opportunity to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in the US. He won the Arranger’s prize in Nordring Competition 1981 organized by European Broadcast Union (EBU) in Jersey.

In the early 70’s Koivistoinen refined his skills in classical composition at Sibelius-Academy with composer Aulis Sallinen. Later he studied at Berklee College of Music, USA with Herb Pomeroy and Joe Viola.

Koivistoinen has also been awarded a 15-year government grant for artists.

Koivistoinen is a founding member of the UMO Jazz Orchestra, and also served as its Artistic Director in 1996–98. In addition to Finland, he has conducted in countries such as Germany, Norway, Denmark, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Iceland, South Africa and Japan.

He has performed as a jazz saxophone player in most European countries,

USA, Japan, Russia and Africa. He has produced among others 4 CD’s of African music for Naxos World in Mozambique and South Africa and lectured in many African Universities.

Koivistoinen’s oeuvre includes hundreds of works, including instrumental music for ensembles of various sizes and vocal music. Among recent larger works are Round about Monk, an orchestral suite based on themes by Thelonious Monk commissioned by the RSO (Radio Symphony Orchestra); Baltic Blues – a multimedia work commissioned by the Kymi Sinfonietta; and Ville and Valle, a children’s song album commissioned by the UMO Jazz Orchestra (Emma Award 2014).

Koivistoinen has made two recordings session in New York City, USA.

Picture In Three Colours album 1983 was with Tom Harrell trp, Jim McNeely piano, John Scofield gtr, Ron McClure bass and Jack DeJohnette drs.

Altered Things album 1992 was with Randy Brecker trp, Conrad Herwig trb, John Scofield gtr, Dave Kikoski piano, Ron McClure bass and Jack DeJohnette drs. Bill Milkowski of Down Beat granted four and a half star to this album and wrote: “But a cursory listening to Altered Things reveals that these musicians were motivated by more than just funding. Koivistoinen happens to be a first-rate composer, an arranger of the highest order, and a strong improviser on tenor.”

2012 US rap-artist J.Cole sampled Eero’s composition Bells for his Breakdown track on Cole’s Sideline Story album that was number one on Billboard magazine’s album chart.

Koivistoinen has many original compositions and arrangements for Big Band.

Koivistoinen has a large Discography with 26 recording of his own.

www.eerokoivistoinen.com