Maarja Aarma x Mikk Kaasik x Karl Madis PennarEE

Maarja Aarma is a versatile singer, composer, and arranger known for her neo-soul and jazz projects. She is the founder and leader of the bands Maarja Aarma MA, Gretagrund, and vocal ensemble KVART. Her music interweaves the softness of soul, the freedom of jazz, and poetic sensitivity. Maarja has released three studio albums: Püsimatu hing (2015, Gretagrund), Connected Through (2019, Maarja Aarma MA), and Queenland (2022, Maarja Aarma MA). A new album, Fall Into Love, is planned for 2026. Her songs have repeatedly received international recognition at the International Songwriting Competition. She has performed at festivals including Jazzkaar, Tallinn Music Week, Sõru Jazz, Taff:fest, and JuuJääb. Maarja's musical journey began with classical piano studies, followed by pop-jazz vocal studies at Georg Ots Tallinn Music School and the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. She has furthered her education in Norway and the UK and has sung for years in the ETV Girls' Choir.

Mikk Kaasik is a young Estonian jazz pianist and composer whose music interweaves jazz, fusion, and funk. In summer 2024, his debut album Take One was released, reflecting the energy and creativity of young musicians. Mikk has studied piano since childhood, but his love for jazz deepened at age 17 when he began studying at Heino Eller Music School under the guidance of Jürmo Eespere. His creative breakthrough came with winning the Uno Naissoo composition competition with the work Rapid Resonance, which also appears on his debut album. In 2025, Mikk Kaasik received the Young Jazz Talent Award issued by the Estonian Jazz Union.

Karl Madis Pennar is a versatile guitarist, composer, and educator whose music combines jazz, improvisation, and contemporary sound language. He has received the Tiit Paulus Young Guitarist Prize (2020) and won the Big Band Composition Contest for Baltic Young Composers. Pennar studied and furthered his education in the master's programme at the Hamburg University of Music and Theatre, where his mentors were renowned musicians Wolf Kerschek, Vadim Neselovskyi, Lutz Krajenski, Teemu Viinikainen, and Kalle Kalima. In addition to creative work, he works as a big band conductor at Tallinn Music and Ballet School and is an active musician in several Estonian jazz ensembles.