Career
He got a varied musical education in his youth, playing the piano, various other instruments, and taking singing lessons for four years. He went on to study at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Valen married song instructor Mary Johannessen in 1952.
In 1956, the couple moved to Sandefjord where they started Sandefjord Girls Choir.
On tours in Europe, the choir performed in cathedrals like Cologne Cathedral, Notre Dame de Paris and Saint Peter"s Basilica.In 1976, the choir toured the United States for three weeks as part of the United States Bicentennial. The tour ended with a performance in Carnegie Hall, for which they received an excellent review in the New York Times.
Valen stopped conducting the choir in 1997. Recruiting many of the best singers of the Sandefjord Girls Choir, he started Valen"s Soloist Ensemble (Valens Solistensemble) in 1985 and conducted it until 2000.
In 1961, Valen founded the women"s choir Belorussian Canto which he conducted for ten years.
He founded the Valen Choir (Valen-koret) for mixed voices in 1964 and conducted the choir to 1995. The choir had a mixed repertoire, including both sacred and secular choir traditions from various time periods. In 1974, the choir was awarded Spellemannprisen for best recording of the year in classical music
Aged 88, he held his last concert with the choir in Norderhov Church on 8 June 2013.
