Tampere Biennale: Secret Flowers

Information

Tickets €35
Pensioners €30
Children and young people (under 16) and students €20

Intercultural dialogue through Japanese Noh theatre

The unique contemporary music theatre evening Secret Flowers is built around classical Japanese Noh theatre. This sequence of four contemporary works is a dive into the expressive world of Noh: the oldest still-active interdisciplinary tradition, centred on both the darker and brighter mysteries of humanity.

The evening is the creation of contemporary music theatre specialist Aleksi Barrière (b. 1989), who serves as both the dramaturg and director. Representing both tradition and its ongoing reinvention, the internationally praised Noh vocalist Ryoko Aoki will appear in Finland for the first time. The music will be performed by the Avanti! Chamber Orchestra, renowned for their high-quality and boundary-crossing concert productions.

Composer Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955) brings the fragile aesthetic of Noh into the Western instrumental world in his string quartet Silent Flowers (1998). Noriko Baba (b. 1972), in turn, gives Noh singing a new context in her work Hagoromo Suite (2017), receiving its Finnish premiere.

The programme begins and concludes with the two-part world premiere by composer Juha T. Koskinen (b. 1972). The libretto for Prologue (to all stories) is by Aleksi Barrière, and the chamber drama The Woman on the Sixth Street is based on a libretto by writer Selja Ahava (b. 1974).

In The Woman on the Sixth Street, Lady Rokujō, famous from her appearance in various Noh plays where she is abandoned by her lover, appears both in her original form and as a woman of our own time. These mirrored versions of the role are performed by Noh singer Ryoko Aoki and actress Petriikka Pohjanheimo.

Concert duration: 1 hour 15 minutes. No intermission.

Following the Secret Flowers performance, at 5.30, a panel discussion will be held in the Small Auditorium, where Tampere Hall’s Artistic Director Suvi Leinonen will interview the production’s artistic team.

Performers:

Ryoko Aoki, Noh singing
Petriikka Pohjanheimo, actress
Avanti! Chamber Orchestra

Artistic Team:

Aleksi Barrière, direction and dramaturgy
Étienne Exbrayat, stage and lighting design
Yuichiro Sato, paintings
Production: Music theatre collective La Chambre aux échos

The event is part of the Tampere Biennale programme, taking place from 15 to 19 April 2026. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the festival, founded by composer Usko Meriläinen as a celebration of Finnish contemporary music.

Programme is subject to change.

Produced by: Tampere Hall, in collaboration with Tampere Biennale

Programme

Juha T. Koskinen: Prologue (to all stories) (libretto: Aleksi Barrière) (2026, world premiere)

Noriko Baba: Hagoromo Suite (2017, Finnish premiere)

Toshio Hosokawa: Silent Flowers (1998)

Juha T. Koskinen: The Woman on the Sixth Street (libretto: Selja Ahava) (2026, world premiere)