Inaugural gala performance August 9, 2017

Musical composition inspired by Tove Jansson’s Moomin stories will celebrate the inaugural opening of the Moomin Museum

A new musical composition by Jonne Valtonen will debut at Tampere Hall on August 9, 2017. Inspired by Tales from Moominvalley, a collection of short stories by Tove Jansson, the piece was commissioned by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra and it will be conducted by Chief Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali. The debut will form part of a gala performance celebrating Tove Jansson’s birthday and the June opening of the Moomin Museum at Tampere Hall. The gala performance will be scripted and directed by Marika Vapaavuori. Tickets will be on sale as of Wednesday, April 12.

Jonne Valtonen (b. 1976) is a Tampere-based composer who has composed a series of symphonic vignettes inspired by five short stories by Tove Jansson. The inaugural gala performance will feature the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra performing with singers Maria Ylipää, Nelli Nyman, Tero Harjunniemi and Kristian Lindroos, dancer Minna Tervamäki and the Pirkanpojat Boys’ Choir. The concert will transport audiences into the magical world of the Moomins, combining warmth, wisdom and a message of tolerance together with a vivid and exciting visual world. The script will be narrated by actors Armi Toivanen and Jarmo Koski, who will guide the audience from story to story with selected snippets of words and text by Jansson.

“We have selected episodes from Tove Jansson’s stories that perfectly capture her artistic persona and the one-of-a kind atmosphere of the Moomin books. From generation to generation, new readers around the world keep falling in love with the Moomins and their humane philosophy of tolerance, respect for difference, and the importance of family,” says Marika Vapaavuori.

Inaugural gala concert
Wednesday, August 9, at 7.00 pm, Tampere Hall, main concert hall
Tickets €39/49, students €30

Tickets on sale at the Tampere Hall box office and through Aplodi and the lippu.fi web service.