Iro Haarla

At the Sibelius Academy, in Helsinki, Haarla studied classical piano under Izumi Tateno, musical composition under Einar Englund, and improvisation under Heikki Sarmanto.^[1][2] She was initially intending to become a concert pianist, but pivoted to jazz upon meeting the jazz drummer Edward Vesala in 1978.^[3]

She first became known as the arranger of the works of Vesala for his 'Sound & Fury' ensemble.^[4] They went on to collaborate extensively over two decades, and in a 2008 Washington Post interview, she stated that during that time she did not play her own music at all but was instead totally focused on supporting Vesala.^[5] As part of her support role she also broadened her instrument repertoire to keyboards, the accordion and especially the harp, in which she is entirely self-taught.^[5][3]

Vesala died in 1999, and afterwards Haarla launched her solo career, performing in and leading numerous ensembles.^[3] She also went on to record several albums, both as a leader and ensemble artist.^[3]

Haarla's music has been characterised as "sit[ting] at that mystical halfway point between improv and composition".^[6] Her piano-playing has been described as having a "weightless, displaced" quality, and her harp "delicate romanticism".^[6]

Haarla has received two Emma awards for the jazz record of the year, in 2005 (Penguin Beguine) and 2011 (Vespers).^[7]

In 2006, she was awarded the Yrjö prize by the Finnish Jazz Federation.^[8]

In 2018, Haarla received the Ted Curson award at the Pori Jazz Festival.^[2]

In 2020, she was recognised with the Suomen Jazzlegenda [fi] (lit. 'Jazz Legend of Finland') award.^[9]

Iro Haarla's parents were the actor Saulo Haarla and his first wife, opera singer Helena Salonius.

Haarla was married to Edward Vesala, until his death in 1999.^[1]

Later she married the bassist Ulf Krokfors [fi], with whom both herself and Vesala had collaborated extensively.^[10]