The Tolvanen family knows Tapiolan lukio upper secondary school well: Both father and son went to and graduated from there

Aaro Tolvanen graduated from Tapiola in May 2025. His father, Jussi, also graduated from there in 1997. Both of them studied in Tapiola’s music school. Aaro’s older sister also went to Tapiola’s music school, and his younger sister will start studying there in August 2025. This interview was held in early June 2025.

“Graduation hasn’t really hit me yet. It does feel lighter, not having to go to class any more. I'm sure that it’ll hit me over summer,” says Aaro. When Jussi graduated, things were different: “What I remember is that the music school was a lot of fun. Back then, upper secondary school grades didn't matter as much.” Mother Maiju attended the senior ball at Tapiola. Jussi’s sister and her husband also went there.

“I haven’t necessarily pushed my kids to go there,” says Jussi. Aaro recalls dad telling all kinds of fun stories from his days there.

Jussi’s thing in music was singing and the piano. Piano virtuoso Lenni-Kalle Taipale and Jussi were friends there – and he wasn’t really one to compete with even then. After upper secondary school, Jussi didn’t touch music for almost two decades, until an old friend from school convinced him to join the Student Union Choir. These days, Jussi also sings for the Chamber Choir.

Aaro’s instrument of choice is the guitar. He got to play on stage with dad’s schoolmate Marzi Nyman, when Marzi was elected Alumnus of the Year and played a gig in the honour of that: “My teacher just sent me a message, saying ‘you want to come play some Hendrix with Marzi’, completely out of the blue,” says Aaro about his first reaction.

All in all, Aaro got to play a lot of concerts during his days at Tapiola, essentially forming an unofficial house band. During his time at Tapiola, Aaro played for 21 diplomas in music in addition to his own. That is a lot of music to play. “The previous regular guitarist had graduated. My sister helped to spread the word and suddenly, I was being asked to join all kinds of music projects.”

In addition to guitar, Aaro also play other band instruments. There was even one time that he was made to play a double bass. People were asking around if there was anyone that could play one, and a friend threw Aaro under the bus, saying that he could – so he had to learn. This led to him playing the double bass for the senior ball band.

Aaro’s best memory from upper secondary school is the Toto cover gig. Aaro and his friends had all discovered Toto and decided to put together a gig. They put the whole thing together on their own, after which the City of Espoo asked them to do it again for Espoo Day. “The school gave us the room and the equipment. We handled the music. In general, the school supported its students’ ideas a lot,” says Aaro.

In Jussi’s memories, upper secondary school was a good time with no worries for the future. “What I remember most are the big music projects, like the one we did about Anna Karenina. Oh, and us going to London to perform an operetta and someone from London coming to Finland,” says Jussi. He says that the school atmosphere was incredibly encouraging. The kids in the general programme got better grades, but even they weren’t of the jealous type – a mate got a good grade, everyone patted them on the back. Today, the music programme kids also do well in general studies.

In Jussi’s time, the teachers had been there for a long time already. One of his old teachers, Tuula Tikkanen, didn't retire until this spring. One of Jussi's schoolmates, Janne Salmivuori, has become a PE teacher at Tapiola.

Thinking back on his time at Tapiola lower secondary school, Aaro says that he didn’t really get along with the teachers, as he wasn't all that interested in school. “At the music school, I got to focus on what interested me. I got on with the upper secondary teachers really well. There, it helped to be an extrovert – that was the ticket to be included in a lot,” says Aaro. He invited his upper secondary teachers to his graduation party, and one of them has even invited him to play a round of golf.

Jussi’s favourite subjects were music and PE. Aaro also liked social studies, history and geography, in addition to music, of course.  He praises the teachers for handling the academic subjects through the lens of today’s real life. What Aaro is thankful for are the travel courses to Kraków and Rome – seeing the real, historical places gives you a completely different perspective.

Jussi Tolvanen studied for a Master of Science in Economics at the University of Vaasa. His studies took him all of 11 years, through constant work and raising a family, which are what made it take so long.

Aaro Tolvanen does not want a career in music, opting instead to keep it as a favourite hobby. He was admitted to his first-choice programme at Tampere University to study business and will begin his studies at the end of August 2025. He is entering the military service with the Conscript Band in January 2026. This summer, Aaro will be working as a game ticket seller at Linnanmäki: “This job is a mix of customer service and performance such as in the form of hosting.”

Both father and son agree that studying economics can open doors to all kinds of jobs. Jussi studied financing and worked in the sector for the first ten years of his career. Today, he holds a management role in the technology sector. Aaro is interested in management and business law. “To me, what’s most important is that my children stay respectable and happy. I’ll let them do what they choose to do,” Jussi sums up.

Aaro has a message for current and future upper secondary students: stay on the teachers’ good side. Study the things that you're interested in. “You need to choose what you want to focus on. If you go for everything, all you’ll do is get tired.” Aaro got strong matriculation grades by focusing on his personal interests. The way he prepared for the matriculation exams was to focus on maths, which paid off: despite a fair final average of 6 in maths, his grade for the maths exam was an excellent E.