New album
'So Much of You Was Sleeping'
Iiris Viljanen is a boundary-breaking jazz pianist where playful improvisation meets a sensitive musical presence.
Rooted in contemporary jazz and the free form of expression explored in her new instrumental piano album So Much of You Was Sleeping (2025), Viljanen’s music moves fluidly between composition and improvisation. Each concert is a unique experience in which the pieces are allowed to breathe, evolve, and sometimes take entirely new directions.
On stage, Viljanen often creates new themes in real time, engaging in an intuitive interplay of time, tone, and space. Laid-back grooves meet imaginative melodies and spontaneous exploration. At times, foot percussion joins in, and a wordless voice forms harmonies with the piano.
In addition to her solo piano concerts, Viljanen composes music for theatre productions and musicals, creates commissioned works for radio and television series, and performs as a pianist in scenic and musical productions.
In recent years, she has also begun exploring tap dance as an extension of her rhythmic and scenic expression, where movement and rhythm become an integrated part of the storytelling.
