Fire! Orchestra: Community-Based Activities
A site specific Fire! Orchestra joined by the new wave of Danish experimentalists
Experience the internationally acclaimed free jazz big band Fire! Orchestra joining forces with a new generation of Danish experimentalists as the ensemble comes to Vinterjazz as Final Descent's Artists in Residence 2027.
A core group of musicians from the world-renowned orchestra will join forces with a dozen young Danish experimentalists from the collective Movement Shaped Like A Heart to establish a new, site-specific incarnation of Fire! Orchestra, presented in two concerts in Aarhus and Copenhagen.
The concert is presented in collaboration with Vinterjazz, Movement Shaped Like A Heart & Turkis.
You can find the Copenhagen-concert here
Date: Friday, 26 February 2027
Doors: 19:00
Concert: 20:00
Tickets: 85 DKK + Fee / 55 DKK for members
Venue: Turkis, Vester Allé 15, 8000 Aarhus
Buy Tickets
Fire! Orchestra
Fire! Orchestra is a Sweden-based experimental jazz ensemble founded in 2009 by saxophonist and composer Mats Gustafsson in collaboration with bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Andreas Werliin. Emerging from the trio Fire!, the orchestra has since established itself as one of the most significant ensembles in European free jazz, improvised music, and genre-defying big band music.
Over the years, the ensemble has featured up to 30 musicians and operates at the intersection of free improvisation and open, flexible compositions. Fire! Orchestra is known for its uncompromising approach to the big band format, where spontaneous composition, graphic structures, and open-ended improvisation merge into overwhelming, psychedelic works drawing on spiritual jazz, the European avant-garde, and the American big band tradition.
Movement Shaped Like A Heart
Movement Shaped Like A Heart is a musician collective and independent record label based in Copenhagen and Aarhus, operating at the intersection of free improvisation, experimental jazz, noise rock, and alternative pop.
The collective functions as both an artistic community and a curatorial platform, unrestricted by rigid genre conventions. Through its own concert activities, record releases, wide-ranging collaborations, and self-organised initiatives, Movement Shaped Like A Heart has helped create visibility and cohesion within a scene characterised by scattered initiatives and temporary projects.
The project's participants come from a wide range of bands, including Tegn, Hands on Fire, Asta Band, Spiderpeople, Psychobillyjazz 3, and Bending Backwards.
Line-up
Alex Zethson (keyboards, grand piano)
Mads Forsby (drums)
Mariá Portugal (drums, vocals)
Johan Berthling (electric bass)
Mats Gustafsson (baritone saxophone)
Mette Rasmussen (alto saxophone)
Mats Äleklint (trombone)
Miamaja Vinter (tenor saxophone)
Isak Schiødt (tenor saxophone)
Flora Carbo (alto saxophone)
Jo Hoxer (trumpet)
Petra Sanggaard (trumpet, viola)
Maiken Thunbo (cello)
Claire Dickson (vocals, electronics)
Magnus Munk Tækker (pedal steel guitar, electronics)
Signe Østlund Jacobsen (synthesizer, piano)
Halfdan Magnus Stefansson (guitars)
Samuel Tiger Richmond (electric bass)
Jens Højbøge Mosegaard (drums)
Mikkel Wilstrup (drums)
The project is supported by
Statens Kunstfond
Koda Kulturs Projektpulje
Jazzpuljen
Vinterjazz / Copenhagen Jazz Festival
Jazz Danmark
Dansk Artist Forbund
RMC: Rhythmic Music Conservatory
Graphic design by Island Made of Sand and Clay