Finnish bass-baritone Tuomas Pursio studied singing at the Sibelius Academy in his natal Helsinki and subsequently joined the International Opera Studio in Zurich, where he also  performed in productions of the opera house.

In 1996, he started his international career as a member of the Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf.  From 2000 until 2002 he was an ensemble member of the Erfurt Theatre and subsequently joined the ensemble of the Leipzig Opera. He has appeared as a guest at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin as well as in Hannover, Augsburg, Bielefeld, Zürich, Lausanne, Nice, and Bern (2007).

Since 2003, Mr. Pursio has been singing regularly at the Savonlinna Oper Festival, lately as Escamillo in Carmen and Olli Kortekangas’ new opera Isän Tyttö (Daddy’s daughter, 2007). At the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki he performed Don Alfonso/Cosí fan tutte (2004) and Sprecher/Die Zauberflöte (2005). In Bern as well as at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp Mr. Pursio has been invited to sing the title role in Le nozze di Figaro.

Tuomas Pursio has worked in opera and concert together with such conductors as Adam Fischer, Franz Welser-Moest, Nello Santi, Osmo Vänskä and Marcello Viotti. Together with the Philharmonische Werkstatt Schweiz and Mario Venzago he recorded Robert Schumann´s Manfred, and he performed Bartok’s Bluebeard’s castle with the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie and Frank Beermann conducting. In August 2008 he sang in Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony at the Helsinki Festival as well as in Stockholm.

Mr. Pursio’s many parts at the Leipzig opera have included the Four Villains in Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Andrej Korvine in a world premiere of Philippe Hersant’s Der Schwarze Mönch, Wurm/Luisa Miller, Plumkett/Martha, to name but a few. Productions in 2008  and 2009 include Ariadne auf Naxos, Don Giovanni and La Rondine.