TampereRaw presents: Minna Canth - Portrait of a Woman

Minna Canth - Portrait of a Woman - concert presents music by three Finnish women composers and honours the life and work of Finnish Minna Canth. TampereRaw ensemble, conducted by Maria Itkonen, will perform music by Cecilia Damström, Lotta Wennäkoski and Minna Leinonen. The presenter and playwright of the concert is the 2018 winner of Minna Canth -prize, author Kaarina Hazard.

Finland celebrated the 175th anniversary of the birth of Tampere-born Minna Canth on 19.3.2019. A famous journalist and author of her time, Minna Canth was known for relentlessly bringing forth societal inequalities, in particular as regards women and girls. Many of the issues Canth kept on the public domain haven’t lost in relevance. A dedicated concert showcasing music by extraordinary Finnish women pays tribute to Canth’s life’s work and acts as a reminder of the position of a strong Finnish woman in the changing society.

TampereRaw wants to shake up the ingrained traditions that are often associated with classical concerts. The ensemble wants to open the doors particularly to women, and do their part to advance gender equality in the world of music. As Minna Canth used to say “A woman’s field of work in the future will be vast, and her mission important. Everything that the past centuries and millenniums have broken apart and neglected, she shall mend and make better.”

The concert is partially funded by Taiteen edistämiskeskus and Musiikkitalon säätiö. The concert is also sponsored by Painotalo Niini.