Heikki Sarmanto
Composer and pianist Heikki Sarmanto (b. 1939), started playing jazz already in the 1960's. He studied at the Sibelius Academy and Berklee College of Music in Boston. In 1970 he was chosen Jazz Musician of the Year in Finland and the following year he won top prizes at the Montreux Jazz Festival in both piano and combo categories. Sarmanto has more than 30 released recordings, numerous published scores, and songbooks, as well as several film scores to his credit. He has collaborated with jazz-legends such as Sonny Rollins, Art Farmer, Helen Merrill and George Russell in addition to his work in the classical arena with baritone Jorma Hynninen, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Tapiola Children's Choir. In September 1998 Sarmanto was appointed Artistic Director of the UMO Jazz Orchestra. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.