BIOGRAPHY   Susanna Mesiä is truly an all-arounder when it comes to music. Today she   considers vocals to be her main instrument but has also been seen on   stage playing piano, altosaxophone and even conducting a big band.   She has graduated from Sibelius-Academy with masters degree in music   education and from Pop & Jazz Conservatory with a degree in teaching   vocals.Susanna is a respected pedagogue who has taught in variety of   institutions. At the moment she teaches at Helsinki Polytechnic.   She has also taught masterclasses around Finland.   Susanna’s career as a prominent jazzvocalist took new wing when she won   the “Lady Summertime by Genelec” –competition in July 2000. The jury   praised her performance. Since then Susanna has performed in many   finnish jazzclubs such as Storyville and also on festivals around the country.   Susanna has received positive response also outside of Finland. She has   performed e.g. in Germany, Hungary and Poland. In addition to clubs,   festivals and concerts Susanna is a popular performer in various   events. Her wide understanding of  music and fluently spoken English   enables her to create an appropriate athmosphere for each occassion.   Being a woman with warm personal presence she´ll capture the moment   on any given occasion.    Susanna Mesiä’s first solo album was released in June 2004.   The material for the album was selected from rarely heard treasures of   traditional New Orleans jazz. She has translated the original colourful and   fascinating lyrics into Finnish for her listeners to fully appriciate. According   to her, she  “wanted to respect the original stories by approaching them with   the closest translation possible. Also the rhyming follows the origin.” Susanna   also composed original material in the traditional style for the album.   Susanna can also be heard on Spirit of New Orleans’ live recorded release   “Bogalusa Strut” from 2002. At the moment she is working on an album with   Sunny Side, an orchestra she has been working with recently. The album will   be released during spring 2007.