The new music and city culture festival Tallinn Music Week (TMW) is teaming up with renowned Finnish cultural centre Tampere Hall and the Tampere 2026 European Capital of Culture bid for an extensive programme. The Tampere team presents the opening night of the festival and the “Woman’s Destiny” programme by the TampereRaw ensemble. In collaboration with the world-famous Moomin Museum and the Tampere Hall Shop, an exclusive Moomin pop-up store will open in Fotografiska Tallinn during the festival and the preceding week.
The 12th edition of TMW takes place in Tallinn, Estonia on 25 – 29 March. TMW 2020 is presented by Telia.
TMW 2020 Festival Pass for 65 euros, and Conference + Festival Pass for 175 euros are on sale at shop.tmw.ee.
TMW 2020 single tickets, including those for the showcases presented by the Tampere team, are on sale at Piletilevi.
On Thursday 26 March, the Tampere Region’s Capital of Culture bid for 2026 – running in collaboration with the largest cultural centre in the Nordics, Tampere Hall – will present the TMW 2020 opening night at Fotografiska Tallinn. The night’s line-up will include the famous Finnish jazz guitarist Jarmo Saari’s supergroup, the genre boundary-breaking Tapani Rinne, the folktronica act Suistamon Sähkö and the rapper-turned-singer-songwriter Jesse Markin from Finland, who has just won two EMMA awards. Estonia is represented by the post-folk duo Puuluup and by Anna Kaneelina, who raked in four wins at this year’s Estonian Music Awards.
An intimate and special concert venue, the church of the Tallinn Kalju Baptist Congregation in Kalamaja will see the Finnish ensemble TampereRaw performing music by Finnish composer Cecilia Damström, with a theme of a “Woman’s Destiny”, on Saturday 28 March. This unique programme is dedicated to the memory of two headstrong and extraordinary Finnish women – Aino Sibelius, wife of Jean Sibelius, and Minna Canth, the first Finnish female journalist and cultural figure. As one of the world’s leading suffragettes, Minna Canth was a driving force behind Finland becoming the first country in the world to give women full political rights in 1906.
The world’s only Moomin Museum is also located in Tampere Hall, and it’s a big year for the Moomins too – 75 years have passed since the first Moomin book was published. For the first time in Estonia, the Moomin Museum and the Tampere Hall Shop will open an original Moomin pop-up store in Fotografiska Tallinn from 17 to 29 March. The shop highlights the themes of the Moomin museum’s exhibitions, based on the original artwork of acclaimed Finnish artist and creator of the Moomins Tove Jansson. The Moomin Museum exhibits over 400 original artworks by the author, popular with adults and children alike, and is part of the Tampere Art Museum. The pop-up shop selection at Fotografiska includes Moomin products not available anywhere else from posters, postcards, magnets, mugs, notebooks and books to chocolate bars. It will be the perfect place to either stop by with your little ones or delight your own inner child.
The Tampere 2026 team is working towards Tampere and its surrounding region becoming the European Capital of Culture in the year 2026. Their vision of sustainability and equality in their work resonates perfectly with the topics of TMW 2020, and both partners are also working towards raising awareness about the UN Sustainable Development Goals. As Paulina Ahokas, the Managing Director of Tampere Hall, explains: “It feels perfectly natural for the Tampere 2026 cultural capital process and Tampere Hall to join forces with TMW to spread the love of music, the thrill of wonderful encounters and experiences, and the message of equality. What an honour it is for us to be invited to present this opening night and contribute to the exciting programme with TMW, one of the best festivals in the world – not only in our opinion, but according to influential critics as well!”
Celebrating its 30th birthday this year, Tampere Hall is the largest conference and concert centre in the Nordics. It is also Finland’s first carbon-neutral conference and concert centre, which uses renewable energy to contribute to a fossil-free society. The musicians that make up TampereRaw are from the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, a full-size symphony orchestra that also resides in the Tampere Hall and celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.
In sum, there is a lot to celebrate in Tampere this year. Paulina Ahokas adds: “We are so happy to invite everyone to celebrate our many anniversaries, and we are absolutely convinced that everyone will find at least 195 reasons to come to Tampere as well – Tampere Hall 30, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra 90, Moomin 75 and the Marriott Courtyard, recently established in connection to us.”
The full TMW 2020 programme will be revealed during February and March. In addition to the music festival, the TMW 2020 programme includes a two-day conference at the Estonian Academy of Arts, public talks, music-themed workshops for children, day trips, and city stage concerts in Tallinn’s Lasnamäe district and the city of Paldiski.
TMW 2020 is presented by Telia.
The TMW festival is organised by Shiftworks OÜ, in cooperation with many partners and co-organisers.
The international activities of TMW, aimed at introducing Estonia as an attractive destination for those interested in music and culture, are supported by funds from the European Regional Development Fund.
Tickets for TMW 2020 Opening Night: Tampere Hall in collaboration with Tampere 2026 are 18 euros, and tickets for TampereRaw presents “Woman’s Destiny” are 15 euros. Both are on sale at Piletilevi.
A TMW 2020 Festival Pass and Conference + Festival Pass also grants access to all TMW music showcase programme events.