Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen (-> meaning of Tarja´s names) was born on August 17, 1977 in Kitee, Eastern Finland.
Together with two brothers - one seven years older, the other five years younger - she grew up in the small village Puhos near the
Russian border. Her childhood happened admist an impressive scenery dominated by lakes and woods far from the hustle and bustle
of big cities. At a very early age it already became obvious that Tarja was gifted with a great talent in music. Aged three she
suddenly started singing at a family party.I can't remember that myself, but my mother often tells me this story.
I'm supposed to suddenly start to sing. My mother than sat me on the table for no one would have seen me otherwise. That must have been
the first time I sang to an audience.1 It was her mother who first recognized the strong and clear voice of her daughter and
a few years later she took Tarja to the parish, where Tarja was accepted in the choir. Additionally she got lessons in a children`s group.
Furthermore at the age of six she started to play the piano. My parents are not musically trained but they are music lovers.
They saw my talents in music and put me into music school.2 As a kid she already enjoyed to perform in front of an audience.
I was very theatrical kid, liked to perform in various kind of events as a singer or as an actress.3 Her favourite
singers at that time were soul singers like Whitney Houston and Aretha Franklin. My greatest idol was Whitney Houston.
I always wished to be exactly like her, and often tried to imitate her. My vocal teacher liked that. He always told me that I would be
the next Whitney Houston one day. But one day I started to make an education in classical singing. He never spoke a word to me again.
I think he was very disappointed about my decision and would have wanted me to go on singing soul.4
Aged fifteen Tarja had her first lesson in classical
singing. At that time she also sang a christmas concert to an audience of more that thousand people for the first time in her life. The
listeners brimmed over with enthusiasm, but on the other hand she was confronted with envy and rejection on the part of her classmates.
Tarja had to learn that success and loneliness are very close together. Later she began to study at Savonlinna music high school with
classical singing and music theatre as major subjects. At the age of eighteen she began to study church music at Sibelius Academy in Kuopio.
Tarja also joined the Opera Festival Choir in Savonlinna.
At around the same time Tuomas Holopainen brought his band Nightwish into being in 1996. He knew Tarja from school and asked her, if
she was interested in singing on his first demo. I was very surprised when my schoolmate Tuomas politely asked me to sing on
his demo, because we never really talked before. He was a very shy guy who played clarinet and would wave at me when we met in our school
band. His mother was my piano teacher and he has also seen me singing at events in our hometown, Kitee. As I have never listened to metal
before, Tuomas` songs were weird to me, but I somehow liked them and decided to sing for him.5 Tarja agreed and this
launched a chain of events nobody could foresee at that time. First just a demo album was planned. Nobody was thinking about gigs etc. But
then Tuomas` experiment Nightwish developed a life of its own. In November 1997 the debutalbum Angels Fall First was released and
Nightwish captured the hearts of many fans fast as the wind. No one in Nightwish imagined that it could happen! Even the
label Spinefarm didn't believe in it. They only accepted to release our first album because they found it had an exotic touch, cute,
and that I was a woman who sang in a metal band...It was a very naive approach and Spinefarm gave us a lot of freedom and never
intervened. Well, with time, we began to understand that Nightwish was becoming more than what we ever imagined. It was a conscious
decision for me when I decided to sing on the first demo. Then I experienced things I never dreamt of. I thought there will be
only one album, but then our career got started.6 Due to the success of "Angels Fall First" Nightwish`s first concert
took place in December 1997 in their hometown Kitee. This was kind of a strange feeling for Tarja, because she wasn`t really used to this
kind of music and hadn`t listened to metal before the formation of Nightwish: I know that I was scared - and the others, too.
It was a great thing, but terrible at the same time.
Before this day I had never figured on singing in a metal band one day and suddenly I was about to enter the stage with exactly such
a band - this was beyond comprehension.7 The second album Oceanborn" was released in December 1998 and finally
caused the breakthrough of Nightwish in Finland. In the course of the year 1999 Nightwish played a lot of concerts in their home country,
followed by a tour throughout Europe with Nightwish supporting the German band Rage. In spite of this extensive program Tarja held down
a few other projects. At the end of 1999 she accepted a part as a soloist in a modern ballet production of the Finnish National Opera House
called "The Evangelicum" which was written and produced by Jorma Uotinen.
With the song Sleepwalker Nightwish took part in the Finnish qualification for the Eurovision Song Contest where the band was voted
first place by public televoting and last by the jury. Altogether Nightwish reached second place.
In May 2000 the platinum selling album Wishmaster was released and helped Nightwish to get accepted beyond the Finnish borders.
The album release was followed by the Wishmaster World Tour starting in Kitee and bringing the band to South America for the
first time for a three-week tour. For the band members, and for Tarja especially, the South America tour was a very impressive
experience mainly caused by the enthusiasm of the local fans. I spent my holidays there very often, specially in argentina.
Recently, the situation in this country got worse, but when Nightwish went there to play for the first time, we were amazed how well
we were welcomed. I can say without lying that the concerts we played in South America have been the greatest in Nightwish`s career.
Well technically it's never easy to play there. There is always something missing, and the organisation is a mess, but all those
little details are quickly fixed by the enthusiasm of the public. There is there an intensity between the public and the band that we
found nowhere else.8
From South America they went back to Europe where they performed at Germany`s Wacken Open Air for the
first time.
In April 2001 the DVD From Wishes to Eternity was released with a live recording of the concert played on December 29, 2000 in
Tampere, Finland, on it. Shortly after that the EP "Over the Hill and Far Away" came out. But while Nightwish were climbing the ladder
of success there were some disagreements among the bandmembers and Tuomas was on the verge of putting an end to Nightwish. Fortunatly,
he decided to continue with his band. Bassist Sami Vänskä left the band and was replaced by Marco Hietala from Sinergy. But Tarja was not
really happy with the situation, either. Although she started to like metal in the meantime, she couldn`t cotton on to the Sex, Drugs &
Rock`N Roll - mentality and the drinking bouts of her band colleagues: On the tours for our first two albums, this
had gotten on my nerves in a frightening way. I just wanted to be left alone and take a nap, but I would hear the others and their
partying constantly.9 By a give-and-take on both sides the situation changed for the better. On our first tours,
things had lead to some displeasure on both sides, but we have learned to compromise in the meantime and to accept each other as we are.
Now we can communicate way better. For the boys it's OK that I do not want to party with them and they take care not to disturb me when I sleep.
And I am happy for them when they can drink.10 But Nightwish`s success especially in Finland brought about a loss of privacy
and it became impossible for Tarja to live a normal life. Furthermore, her career with Nightwish affected her studies in a negative way,
because the classical music scene in Finland turned out to be very conservative and couldn`t warm up for Tarja`s engagement in Nightwish.
Therefore Tarja decided to leave Finland and to move to Karlsruhe, Germany, where she continued with her studies.We sell more
records than many pop bands, we received platinum with each of our releases. I had no private life any more. Everyone noticed me in
the streets.And in addition to that, I didn´t receive any respect at my school in Helsinki. I was fed up with my situation and had this
classic burn-out syndrome. I had to hit the emergency breaks. After I went to Karlsruhe, my life has changed to the better.11
Because of Tarjas move to Germany and the strict
studying schedule Nightwish took a longer break and the other member were busy with some side projects. In addition to her studies Tarja recorded
a few songs for the Infinity - album of the Argentinian Beto Vazquez. Furthermore, she spend time on her classical career.
In May/June 2002 Tarja did a few concerts in South America together with Marjut Paavilainen, Ingvild Storhaug, and Izumi Kawakatsuin in
the course of the "Noche Escandinava" - tour with focus on songs of scandinavian composers. Because of the great success of these concert
a second "Noche Escandinava" - tour took place two years later in April/May 2004.
Despite the long break Nightwish didn`t completely vanish into thin air. In May 2002 the forth album "Century Child" was released and
sold gold within two hours and platinum within three weeks in Finland. In summer 2002 Nightwish toured through Europe and South America.
For the first time was part of the band and the atmosphere among the band members improved. Now when Marco has established
his place in the line-up of Nightwish, I feel much comfortable and secure in a live situation when someone is also there helping me out
with some vocal parts. I do consider it as a true advantage for myself. I think Marco supports me very much nowadays in a live situation
as now it´s not only me who sings there. His support to me is very precious indeed; even when I have a bad day for some reason or the
other, he´s the one I can always turn to and talk to him whatever may bug me. He always manages somehow to find those supportive words to
me and cheer me up out from that bad mood.12
After a longer break Nightwish set out for the "Summer of Innocence" - tour in summer 2003 which brought Nightwish to the
United States for the first time. In the meantime Tarja moved back to Finland and married the Argentinian Marcelo Cabuli who mostly
accompanies Tarja on tour. I simply have missed home too much and couldn't bear it in Karlsruhe any more.The fact of living
so far away from my family and not being able to see them when I wanted was simply bad for me.13
In this year Nightwish`s success was also recognized by Finnish president Tarja Halonen, who invited Tarja and her husband Marcelo to
the President`s Palace for the Finnish Independece Day Party on December 6, 2003. Tarja was named as Most Impressive dressed lady by
televoting.
After the release of the End of Innocence - DVD in October 2003 which provides a deep insight into the band`s history the so far
most impressive album Once came out in May 2004 - followed by a World Tour which is the biggest in Nightwish`s history so far and
brought Nightwish to South America, Europe, the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia.
Besides Nightwish Tarja was devoted to her classical career more and more. In the end of 2003 she offered singing lessons in Buenos Aires,
Argentinia. In spring 2004 there was a second "Noche Escandinava" - tour in South America and in December 2004 Tarja released her
first solo single Yhden Enkelin Unelma ( One Angel`s Dream )which sold platin in Finland.
As a singer with a classically trained voice in a metal band Tarja entered virgin soil in a music genre which is mainly dominated by men.
There aren`t many educated voices in this genre and more important, no classical singers mad enough to try it out.14
Tarja was confronted with the task to integrate her voice in Tuomas` music in a way that allows her freedom of movement on stage and does
no harm to her voice - a challenge she mastered with flying colors. It took me about three years before I really learned how
to integrate my classically trained voice into metal.15
Anyway, at the climax of their career Nightwish experienced a sudden change. After the final Once Tour - concert in October 2005 at Hartwall Arena
in Helsinki Tarja was fired by the band with an open letter. Especially the Finnish media made a quite big deal about the whole affair and Tarja did
two press conferences where she commented on the accusations. From that time on Nightwish and Tarja went separate ways and Tarja devoted herself
exclusively to her solo career. Despite the difficult time she had after the split, she did a Christmas tour in December 2005 doing concerts in
Finland, Germany, Romania and Spain and performing Finnisch and international Christmas songs there. The tour was very successful and for the first
time the fans also had the chance to get to know Tarja personally via VIP tickets.
In 2006 Tarja´s solo career progressed further. In July she performed for the first time as a soloist at the Savonlinna Opera Festival together
with Raimo Sirkiä and attracted fans from many countries to the beautiful city amidst the Saimaa lakes.
In fall the UNICEF - concert "Tomorrow´s Child" took place in Espoo, where Tarja performed together with the Tapiola Choir in support of children
in Laos and Karelia. All in all 18688 € could be gathered for UNICEF.
And finally 2006 ended with a big success: Tarja´s Christmas album "Henkäys Ikuisuudesta" was released in the beginning of November, followed by
a Christmas tour in Finland and Russia. The album was received very well by the audience and also sold platin in Finland.
For 2007 the release of Tarja´s first solo album is planned and earerly awaited by her fans. Will it be a rock or a classic album, or a mixture of both ?
So the people are anxious to see how our "angel of music" will surprise them this time.
But whether classical music or metal, with her powerful, emotional voice full of beauty and her enchanting charisma Tarja always succeeds in
fascinating the audience and capturing the hearts of her listeners fast as the wind. "I have felt many times that I have an
angel on my shoulder. Many people told me that I have some kind of wierd power in me, that people really get something. Maybe there is
something, that I get the power from the audience and give it back through me." 16
Melanie Surma
Quotes taken from:
1http://oceansouls.beyondearcandy.com/interview112003swan.htm
2http://home.wanadoo.nl/seventh.son/tarjaturunen.htm
3http://home.wanadoo.nl/seventh.son/tarjaturunen.htm
4http://oceansouls.beyondearcandy.com/interview112003swan.htm
5Terrorizer #126, Dec 2004
6http://nightwish.ath.cx/article/articleview/49/1/6 und http://nightwish.ath.cx/article/articleview/64/1/6/
7http://www.metal.de/stories.php4?was=story&id=259&search_highlight=nightwish
8http://nightwish.ath.cx/article/articleview/49/1/6
9http://oceansouls.beyondearcandy.com/interview112003swan.htm
10http://oceansouls.beyondearcandy.com/interview112003swan.htm
11http://nightwish.ath.cx/article/articleview/65/1/6/
12www.metal-dearcandy.com/interview112003swan.htm
11http://nightwish.ath.cx/article/articleview/65/1/6/
12www.metal-rules.com/interviews/Nightwish-June2004.htm
13http://oceansouls.beyondearcandy.com/interview112003swan.htm
14Terrorizer #126, Dec 2004
15Terrorizer #126, Dec 2004
16Terrorizer #126, Dec 2004