Jamk’s first-ever Alumni Dinner was held on 12 February 2026 at Hotel Verso in Jyväskylä, bringing together alumni to enjoy an evening of shared experiences and charity. Participants represented all of Jamk’s fields of education. The proceeds from the dinner tickets were donated to support the work of Save the Children Finland, and in their thank-you speech Heli Järvinen and Tiina Kämäräinen described the organisation’s diverse ways of helping children and young people in the region.
The evening offered both a festive atmosphere and an opportunity for deeper networking among alumni while doing good. Jamk’s alumni engagamenent managers, Niko Nyqvist and Tytti Pintilä, were delighted with the event’s success: “The atmosphere was warm, and the dinner groups sparked ideas for many kinds of collaboration and the development of alumni activities. A heartfelt thank you to all our alumni – we have an amazing alumni network!”
Alum of the Year 2026: Kaisa Halmemies is a Champion of Community and Choral Music
The most anticipated moment of the evening was when Jamk’s Vice Rector for Education, Minna-Maaria Hiekkataipale, announced the Alum of the Year 2026. The recognition was awarded to music pedagogue and choir conductor Kaisa Halmemies, whose career combines determination, passion, international experience and the building of strong community.
Music has been a central part of Halmemies’ life since childhood, and already during upper secondary school she studied higher education–level music courses at Jamk. She graduated from Jamk as a choir conductor in 2015 and as a music pedagogue majoring in pop/jazz vocals in 2019. A particularly influential phase in her professional development was her student exchange at the Royal Academy of Music in Aalborg, Denmark. The exchange opened new doors, and Halmemies later completed her master’s degree in rhythm music choral conducting there in 2020.
Today, Halmemies works at Gradia, where she teaches singing, vocal ensembles, choral conducting and music leadership. She conducts several choirs, the most well‑known being the Kipinät Choir, which she founded. As a delightful surprise performance, Kipinät also performed at the Alumni Dinner.
Halmemies emphasizes the importance of community in her work: “It is a richness when people from different fields and backgrounds can come together as equals around a shared passion, leaving everyday worries aside for a moment.”
Read the alumni interview with Kaisa Halmemies!
Moments of Celebration and Encounters in Good Company
During the dinner, guests enjoyed a buffet menu prepared by the kitchen of Hotel Verso. The programme also included a quiz hosted by Magnus Mali, known from the Finnish version of The Chase. The playful yet competitive quiz sparked lively discussions and brought the table groups even closer together. Fittingly, the quiz was won by the table group of the newly awarded Alumnus of the Year.
The first Alumni Dinner demonstrated that Jamk’s alumni network is vibrant, full of ideas and genuinely interested in developing activities together. The event served as a strong opening for a new tradition that is promised to continue around Valentine’s Day in the coming years.
