KupoliLIVE: Kadi Vija 28.5.

This spring, the National Library of Finland’s KupoliLIVE series features one of the brightest stars of the Finnish jazz scene. Finnish-Estonian Kadi Vija, who recently won the Emma Award in the jazz category, will be joining Nikita Rafaelov on stage at Cupola Hall. As ever, Tuomas Palonen will be hosting the evening.

Sound artist Kadi Vija and keyboardist Nikita Rafaelov take to the stage with an intimate and inquisitive work about family, love and looking at the world from a different angle. Tiny Hands Gathering Wonder, The World Becomes Magic tells the story of Teppo, born into an LGBTQIA+ family – told not as childhood fiction but as everyday poetry, where the world is seen through a subtly different lens. This year’s winner of both the Emma and Indie Awards in the jazz category, the album was produced by respected drummer–producer Teppo Mäkynen and released by Tampere-based Mustik Motel Music in October 2025. 

Musically, the work treads in the footsteps of Radiohead and Björk, navigating the terrain of experimental electronics with the tender sensitivity characteristic of indie music. The soundscape is layered and atmospheric – like a child’s thought: off-kilter, yet perfectly placed. On stage, Kadi and Nikita craft a sound space where the listener is free to tune in, reflect on questions and simply be themselves.

Before the gig, Tuomas Palonen will lead an interview exploring the artists’ personalities, interspersed with some of Kadi’s and Nikita’s favourite songs. KupoliLive gets under way with the interview in Cupola Hall at 7.15PM Admission is free, and the venue accommodates up to 100 people. Both the interview and the gig will be livestreamed on the National Library’s YouTube channel.

With a background in improvisational jazz singing, Kadi Vija identifies primarily as a vocal instrumentalist. A graduate of Berklee College of Music in the US, the Sibelius Academy in Finland and the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Vija has performed widely across Europe and attracted recognition through the award-winning Kadi Quartet.

Nikita Rafaelov is a Finnish jazz pianist and composer whose debut album Spirit of Gaia was released in August 2025. He has performed extensively at festivals across Finland and collaborates with a broad range of artists in various ensembles.