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Tarja Turunen |
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 Band
Name: Tarja Turunen
Status: Active
Genre: Symphonic Metal
City: Kitee
Country: Finland
LINE-UP:
Tarja Turunen / Vocals, piano, drums, flute
DISCOGRAPHY:
My Winter Storm (2007)
LISTEN THEIR MUSIC AT :
Tarja Turunen - Official Homepage:
http://www.tarjaturunen.com/ |
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BIOGRAPHY:
The brightest star of the Finnish rock scene, the
soprano singer Tarja Turunen has in a short time
become one of the most well-known Finnish faces in
the world of music.
Turunen, who was born in the city of Kitee, Finland,
started her musical studies at the age of six, and
moved to study classical singing at the age 18 at
the Sibelius Academy of Kuopio city.
At the same time Tarja's classmate Tuomas Holopainen
was starting his acoustical project, and invited
Turunen to join the band. Tarja said yes to the
invitation, and thus Nightwish was born.
The band's first demo-tape was enough to get them a
recording deal with Spinefarm Records. Shortly after
signing the band in 1997 Spinefarm released their
debut album "Angels Fall First", a masterpiece
mixing modern metal music with operatic, classical
vocals.
At the time, Tarja was joining the Savonlinna Opera
Festival Choir where she performed Wagner and Verdi
among others. It was the beginning as well for Tarja
Turunen to establish a career that compromises two
different kind of music and a long way to go until
the audience in general has accepted this fact.
The debut was followed in 1998 by Nightwish's
breakthrough album, the platinum selling "Oceanborn",
which contained such hit songs as "Sleeping Sun" and
a cover version of the main theme of the
"Snowman"-animation, "Walking in the Air".
"Oceanborn" took the band to the stage in Finland
and abroad, and Tarja's unbelievable stage charisma
instantly made her the number one singer favourite
of metal fans all over the world.
Tarja’s face has been illustrating magazines from
all over the world. Just to mention some of them we
need to come with an amazing list from several
countries like Norway, Germany, Spain, Brazil,
France, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland and
Argentina. Scream Magazine, Roadie crew, Inferno,
Rumba, Sue, Metallian, Blue wings (Finnair),
Iltalehti (novedadespaper), Metal Hammer, Rock Hard,
Metal Heart, Aardschok, Epopeya, Rock Brigade, Heavy
Oder Was!?, Hell Awaits, Flash, Legacy Magazine,
Orkus, Rock Tribune, Close Up Magazine, Hard N’Heavy,
Maelmströn.
In many of these publications, Tarja has been
several times recognised among the best singers and
specially in her home country, Soundi Magazine’s
reader’s poll elected Tarja in 2002 as best Finnish
singer and as the most wonderful person.
Despite the band growing success Tarja made time
available for her studies and other projects. In the
end of 1999 Turunen took part as a soloist singer in
a modern ballet production of the Finnish National
Opera House called "The Evankeliumi".
The show was written and directed by the famous
Finnish choreographer Jorma Uotinen together with
Kärtsy Hatakka of the Finnish band Waltari. All
performances of “The Evankeliumi” were completely
sold out.
In the beginning of 2000 Nightwish took part in the
Finnish qualification of the Eurovision Song Contest
with the song Sleepwalker. Nightwish was second
despite an overwhelming win in the public televoting.
This hasn’t been the first time for a TV appearance
by Tarja that has also been in some well-known
Finnish programmes such as Lista Yle TV, Kokkisota
MTV3, Hotelli Sointu TV1, Vaarallinen risteys MTV3,
Huomenta Suomi MTV3 and Jyrki MTV3.
In May 2000 Nightwish released their third album ”Wishmaster”,
which immediately rose to the charts all over the
world and went platinum in Finland in a matter of
weeks.
"Wishmaster" sold over 150.000 copies worldwide.
The year 2000 was very busy for Tarja and Nightwish,
who constantly toured Europe, Finland, Canada and
South America.
There was more demand for gigs than the band could
handle, so in 2001 the first live Nightwish-recording
was made on New Years Eve 2000-2001, when Nightwish
played a gig at club Pakkahuone in Tampere, Finland.
The gig was filmed and recorded, and that material
was then made into a DVD and VHS. The Finnish fans
also got a limited edition full-length Live CD. All
of these formats were released under the name "From
Wishes to Eternity - Live", and every format proved
to be a huge seller reaching once again, gold in
Finland in CD format and gold in Germany in DVD.
Before making their next full-length album, the band
released a Mini-CD called "Over the Hills And Far
Away" which quickly sold platinum in Finland and has
achieved already double platinum status in their
home country. After the "Over the Hills and Far
Away" -EP the band started working on their 4th
full-length studio album "Century Child", but while
the musicians were recording and writing the album,
Tarja decided to go one step forward with her vocal
studies by enrolling in the Music University of
Karlsruhe, Germany.
Although the studying schedule of Karlsruhe was very
tight, Tarja managed to find time not only to record
her vocals for "Century Child", but also to record
vocals for the Argentinean bassist Beto Vazquez's
album "Infinity" that become also an immediate
success worldwide with releases in far East, Russia,
hole Europe and South America, outstanding
achievement for the band just because of the link
with Tarja’s name.
After some warm up concerts in Germany, Tarja also
tour the classical stages of South America in Chile
and Argentina performing a Lied Concert named “Noche
Escandinava” (Scandinavian Night) together with
Marjut Paavilainen, Ingvild Storhaug and Izumi
Kawakatzu
The sold out concerts sponsored by the Embassies of
Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway and the Government
of the City of Buenos Aires brought to South America
songs from Jean Sibelius, Ture Rangström, Leevi
Madetoja, Oskar Merikanto, Hugo Wolf, Richard
Strauss, Gustav Mahler, Johannes Brahms, Felix
Mendelssohn performed by Tarja Turunen creating a
special connection between Tarja and the audience
that will see her later once again developing her
classical career in these countries.
Nightwish's fourth album Century Child was released
in the spring of 2002, and it has sold nearly
250.000 copies worldwide. The album release was
followed by the massive "World Tour of the Century”
which was three months long and took Nightwish's to
ten countries around the world where the band
performed 25 shows in front of 150.000 people.
Exhausted of the world tour, Nightwish made a
decision to have a long break to give its members
some time of their own. Most members of Nightwish
quickly engaged in several side projects, and Tarja
went back to Karlsruhe before the end of the year to
continue her studies.
Once again the huge demand for more shows pushed the
band to perform two extra headlines sold out shows
for 15.000 people at Oberhausen Arena and Munich in
January 2003.
When the official break was finally over, Nightwish
got into the Summer of Innocence tour starting in
June 2003. The experienced left behind 14 countries
and 400.000 eyes that have been witnesses of those
incredible nights.
After three huge tours the band had in their hands
an unbelievable amount of good off-stage and
on-stage material. A documentary was an obvious
choice when a usage for the material was planned,
but the band felt that something extra was needed to
support the various touring scenes.
The answer was found when the Finnish music
journalist Mape Ollila, who has been closely working
with the band since the very beginning of Nightwish,
asked Tuomas for an in-depth interview. Tuomas
agreed, and the interviewers were then taken to
Tuomas Holopainen's summer cottage with Nighwish
members and crew.
With the interview combined with the touring
material, the result was the 2 hours and 15 minutes
long documentary, which tells the band's tale in
their words, from the very beginning to the present
day.
The new DVD “End of the Innocence” was released in
October 2003 worldwide.
At this point the year has already been very
successful for Tarja, but it was definitely crowned
by the invitation received from Finnish President
Tarja Halonen and husband Dr. Arajärvi to assist to
the President's Palace for the Finnish Independence
Day Party, the most important social event of the
country that takes place every year.
Tarja Turunen achieved a new status when Yle TV
Station official web page named her as The Most
Impressive dressed lady in the party according to
the people vote. Also the most important Finnish
daily Newspapers as Ilta Lehti and Ilta Sanomat
awarded her as the Queen of the Night and the Second
Most Impressive dressed lady respectively.
Many magazines and novedadespapers reflected this
new mentioned status in their publications in the
following month with a full national coverage of the
issue.
To end with an astonishing year, in December 19th
2003 Tarja Turunen performed, after tree years, an
intimate Christmas Concert. The small Valkeala’s
Church welcomed 600 people whom stood up to return a
warmth applause to the artist after 60 minutes of
traditional Finnish Christmas music from Sibelius,
Kotilainen and Melartin as well as some arias from
Bach and Mozart.
Nightwish started recording a brand new studio album
and Tarja Turunen, after registering her parts, once
again in the classical field, travelled to Buenos
Aires, Argentina to share her voice this time
offering a one month singing course to already
trained musicians.
Among the facts we can expect for 2004, we’ll find
Tarja flying to Chile, Argentina, Brazil, and
Romania for a second tour with her classical line up
of Noche Escandinava.
The first official web page (already many not
official ones can be found) for Tarja will be
launched under www.tarjaturunen.com Nightwish has
released their new album, “Once” what will take
Tarja to uncountable photo sessions, press
conferences and interviews in Finland and worldwide.
Just a warm up for the 2004 World Tour expected to
be biggest one so far for a Finnish act abroad.
Still Tarja will need to find some time to co
produce and sing in her brother Timo’s iskelma (schlager)
debut album.
What seems in advance to be the most busy year for
Tarja Turunen so far, 2004 will also show the
beginning of her solo career with a long time
planned Christmas Album.
Album global sales with Nightwish exceed 1.000.000
copies.
Tarja has already performed for more than 500.000
people worldwide.
Many songs and video clips from Nigthwish have
already been in high rotation in several countries.
The TV broadcasting of the Independence Day’s
Celebration at the Presidential Castle introduced
Tarja Turunen to more than 2.000.000 people in
Finland according to Yle TV Station.
So far, this has only begun…
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