Album release concert “Warm Christmas”: Ivi Rausi, Raun Juurikas and Timo Steiner

A new album with songs created by Timo Steiner: “Warm Christmas”

Ivi Rausi – vocals

Raun Juurikas – piano

Timo Steiner – narrator

“Warm Christmas” peeks into the human soul through the magical and solemn silence of the turn of the year and Christmas.

It is a strange time, at once warm and cold, hurried and thoughtful, hidden and open. Think about it: what is human life other than relationships, relationships and relationships? A relationship with oneself, with another, with others, with nature and with the great spirit. When I speak to you, am I speaking to myself, or to Him, or to Him in You? When I see you, whom do I really see? Myself? When I wait for you, am I perhaps waiting for Him after all?

The concert centres on songs written by Timo Steiner. The sound language, moving between classical music, pop and jazz, is warm, airy and reflective. Ivi Rausi’s sensitive and improvisational vocals meet Raun Juurikas’s nuanced piano playing. The felted piano sounds like soft snow, a gentle fabric around the melodic lines, leaving room for the word, for silence and for music born in the moment.

Ivi Rausi is a jazz singer, improviser and teacher, whose musical handwriting weaves together improvisation, sensitivity to words and a strong emotional presence. She has released nine albums, four of them with her own compositions, and has collaborated with many Estonian musicians. Her albums have repeatedly been chosen as Raadio Tallinn albums of the month, and in spring 2026 she was named Jazz Promoter of the Year.

Raun Juurikas is a pianist, composer and arranger whose work combines jazz, improvisation and contemporary musical language. His playing is marked by improvisational freedom, emotional sensitivity and openness to different genres.

Timo Steiner plays with and contrasts different styles and compositional devices in a playful way, and his works always carry a certain underlying message. He studied composition at the Tallinn Music Upper Secondary School with René Eespere, Toomas Trass and Mati Kuulberg, and at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre under Jaan Rääts, and in the same master’s programme as a pupil of Raimo Kangro. He has further trained at Marek Stachowski’s masterclasses in Rostock and with Roman Ledenjov at the Moscow Conservatory.

Alongside numerous concert works, Timo Steiner is a respected creator of film and television music; among other things he wrote the music for the internationally acclaimed film and series “Klass” and for the ETV programme “Pealtnägija”. He has received the Estonian Cultural Endowment’s annual prize of the sound art fund for the opera “Kaks pead”, performed at the Nargen Festival (2011), the Estonian Music Council’s composition prize (2019), and the award for best film composer at the Estonian Film and Television Awards (for “Ülo Sooster. Mees, kes kuivatas rätikut tuule käes”, 2021). In collaboration with the creative ensemble Birdname and composer Sander Mölder he has written several ballets (“Keres”, “Kuldne tempel”, “Kuningas-Päike”, “Kurat ja Jumal”, “Aju”).

“Warm Christmas” is a concert about looking into silence, closeness and longing, a musical resting place in the darkest and yet brightest time of winter.