Jonne Valtonen was born in Turku, Finland and was raised in Kaarina along with his brother. He began learning to play classical piano at the age of nine.[1]
Valtonen's first music compositions were done on his home computer, a Commodore 64. During his teen years, he became involved in the PCdemoscene where he was able to pursue his passion for electronic music production. He has won several awards in this field. Between 1991 and 1996 Valtonen created music for Future Crew, one of the most widely known groups in the demoscene at the time. Eventually he became their lead composer under the pseudonym Purple Motion, chosen as a tribute to the British rock group Deep Purple.[2] Some of his best-known compositions are UnreaL ][ / PM[3][4][5][6] (from Future Crew demo Second Reality), Satellite One,[7] and Starshine.[8][9]
Valtonen has become very interested in the human voice. He sings in a mixed choir (Näsin Ääni, Tampere). He also started learning to play the harp.[10]
Educational background
Jonne Valtonen graduated from classical composition at the Pirkanmaa Polytechnic in Finland in 2009. He has received training in composition under the guidance of Hannu Pohjannoro, Oliver Kohlenberg, and Juhani Nuorvala. He has also studied under Magnus Lindberg, Jukka Tiensuu, Kirmo Lintinen and Michael Nyman in various composition masterclasses.[1]
Working for the entertainment industry
In 1996, Jonne Valtonen began doing commission work for major game developers in Finland, namely Remedy Entertainment, Housemarque and Bugbear Entertainment.[11] During the same time, he served as the musical director for the TeatteriSusi theatre, where he composed music for several plays including Dracula, The Miser and Don Quijote.
In 1998, Jonne Valtonen co-founded his company Valtone Oy, specialising in music productions for the entertainment industry. Continuing on this path, he also contributed two titles, in 2000 and 2002, for the Merregnon trilogy, an international soundtrack project featuring orchestral music by veteran video game composers from all over the world, such as Chris Hülsbeck and Yuzo Koshiro.
In 2002, Valtonen's talent was recognized again when he was presented with the Best Soundtrack Award at the International Fest of Cinema & Technology for the movie House by the Sea, directed by Janne Ketola.[12]
In 2004, Jonne Valtonen released his first professionally mastered audio CD, Musicdisk, featuring tracks from his demoscene past.
At the beginning of 2008, Jonne Valtonen took the position of the music lead for all live orchestra projects at Merregnon Studios, a company managed by Thomas Böcker and involved in productions of video game music concerts around the world, and several live recordings for publishers/developers such as THQ US, SEGA Japan and Square Enix Japan.[13]
Orchestra arrangements
Drawing on his strong background in live orchestra work and his studies, Jonne Valtonen has been arranging and orchestrating music for video game concerts since 2005. He has earned worldwide recognition as the main arranger of the annual video game music concerts of the German WDR Radio Orchestra, namely Symphonic Shades (2008), Symphonic Fantasies (2009), Symphonic Legends (2010), and Symphonic Odysseys (2011).[14]
2014 Symphonic Legends London – music from The Legend of Zelda (concert performed by the London Symphony Orchestra)
2014 Final Symphony Tampere – music from Final Fantasy VI, VII and X (concert performed by the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra)
Contemporary works (excerpt)
2003 Unelma Mäntästä (short film)
2004 Aukeus! (contemporary music)
2005 Mimesis (viola solo)
2005 Virtapiirileikki (contemporary music)
2006 Production Values (trumpet miniconcerto)
2007 Pianosonata I
2007 Piece for chamber orchestra and soprano
2007 Tales from the kitch – series (solo piano)
2008 Tango Nellille (WDR commission work, concert premiere on March 6, 2010)
2009 Fanfare overture (WDR commission work, concert premiere on September 12, 2009)
2009 .wav for string orchestra
2010 End credits for an orchestra (concert premiere on July 10, 2010, with the WDR Radio Orchestra)
2010 Fanfare for the Common 8-bit Hero (WDR commission work, concert premiere on July 10, 2010)
2013 Culicidae Night (for Male Voice Choir)
2017 Tales from the Moominvalley - musical suite for the orchestra, children's choir and soloists (Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra commission work, concert premiere on August 9, 2017)
2018 The Blue Bird (cello/piano duo and string orchestra)
2019 Song of the Scarlet Flower (Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra commission work, concert premiere on April 12, 2019)