DEVIN TOWNSEND Says His Upcoming 'The Moth' Performance Will Be 'The Most Prestigious Of All Events That I've Done'

On Thursday, March 27, 2025 and Friday, March 28, 2025, the lifelong work of visionary musician, composer, and producer Devin Townsend will unfold in De Oosterpoort in Groningen, where he will perform the rock opera "The Moth" together with the Noord Nederlands Orkest (North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra) symphony orchestra.

This show is exclusive and will only be performed in Groningen; it will not be staged anywhere else in the world.

Townsend is renowned for his groundbreaking fusion of metal, progressive rock, and ambient music. With a career spanning more than 30 years, he has pushed the boundaries of musical genres and collaborated with world-famous orchestras, establishing an unparalleled artistic legacy.

For his latest project, he has teamed up with the Noord Nederlands Orkest and composed "The Moth", a "rock opera" he has been working on for years, which represents his lifelong ambition. "The Moth" tells the story of the human experience from birth to death, comparable to the transformation of a caterpillar into a moth. It symbolizes the human quest for meaning and offers perspectives on the fear of death through analogy and narrative. Ever since Townsend witnessed large musicals such as "Jesus Christ Superstar" and "Phantom Of The Opera" in the 1970s, he has seen this project as his calling.

"The Moth" has been in the making for over a decade, and Townsend has been building towards it for 30 years. Now, he is ready to bring it to life. He will share the stage at De Oosterpoort in Groningen with no less than seventy musicians from the Noord Nederlands Orkest, a sixty-member choir, and his own band, which includes Mike Keneally, Joseph Stephenson, Darby Todd and James Leach.

In a new video message, Devin stated about the upcoming event (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Devin Townsend and I am here to invite you to Groningen in the Netherlands March 27th [and March 28th] 2025 for the world-exclusive performance of 'The Moth', which is a musical-slash-opera that I've been writing for the past 10 years. Arguably, my entire career and life has led up to this moment. And I was propositioned by the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra And Choir to perform my composition as a world exclusive with their 70-person-strong orchestra, 50-person-strong choir and my band.

"The North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra And Choir is one of the elite orchestras in the world, and to say that I am honored that they would be willing to take a chance on this strange, abstract, heavy, bizarre musical that I've been writing is an understatement. I can't tell you how honored I am to be working with this orchestra.

"My band will be performing with me — Mike Keneally, Darby Todd, James Leach — and the opening act for this show will also be me, but it won't be a musical; it will be a performance of the material that I've done in the past. It's like a show, in a way — in many ways.

"But I stumble over my words here because this is such an honor for me and I can't wait to make this happen with you there. It's the first big performance like this that I've done post-pandemic. So all of you who used to come to the shows in Plovdid [Bulgaria] or Royal Albert Hall [in London] or 'The Retinal Circus' or any of these things, we sort of became a strange little empathetic family. And I highly welcome you to come to this. It's a world-exclusive performance.

"After years and years of doing this, to finally have the opportunity to write a musical, to write an opera and to perform it as a world exclusive with one of the finest orchestras and choirs in the world is beyond a dream come true. And I assure you that the work that I've done on 'The Moth' is — uh, it's intense.

"'The Moth' is a solo vocal performance, and I intend to be in the best form that I can to be able to pull that off for you.

"This career has been so full of highs — and lows, but highs — and this one promises to be the most prestigious of all events that I've done.

"Thank you so much to the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra And Choir for the opportunity for this world premiere of my first musical.

"It sounds so funny to say — I know it sounds pretentious — but I grew up in the '70s and '80s and I love that sort of thing. And I think I'm fairly adept at writing that type of music; I've just never had the opportunity to share it. So please come. And thank you so much for the support. Thank you to the orchestra and choir. I mean, for them to take a risk on a scrubby metalhead is beyond flattering, and I intend to live up to their expectations and yours in every possible way.

"Thank you for allowing me to do this. Thank you to the orchestra. I look forward to seeing you at the world premiere of 'The Moth' musical in Groningen, the Netherlands, March 27th [and March 28th], 2025, world exclusive with the North Netherlands Symphony Orchestra And Choir. It's an absolute pleasure. I look forward to being there and I'm gonna get to work. I'll see ya. Cheers."

Townsend's career is one of many distinct eras. He's been the leader of STRAPPING YOUNG LAD, the lynchpin of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and the co-architect of country duo CASUALTIES OF COOL, all while maintaining his prolific and lauded solo project. More recently he completed work on "PowerNerd", a succinct but still progressive record that pulls from its mastermind's childhood love of vintage rock.

Townsend has an amazing variety in his musical style. He works in ranges of hard rock, progressive metal, new age and ambient. As a solo artist he has had a lineup of various artist working on his albums sporting his infinite variety.

When he revisited his music career, it was with the founding of the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT. The project began with a series of four albums each written in a different style and released between 2009-2011. Afterwards he kept to the DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT and keeps releasing under this name.

Across all Townsend's bands and projects, he has released more than two dozen studio albums and several live ones. Similar in all of these are his versatile vocal delivery that ranges from screaming to an opera-esque singing. The same diversity appears in his writing. Townsend's musical style has roots in metal but draws elements from other genres into the material. Each album is written to express different aspects of his personality.