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Tommi Hakala

In receiving the renowned BBC Singer of the World 2003 in Cardiff award at the International Singing Competition, Finnish baritone Tommi Hakala has made an important step towards a truly promising international career. Tommi Hakala graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with special distinction 1998. He has received the first Matti Salminen Grant in 1997 and was awarded the 1st prize at the national Merikanto Singing Competition in 2001. From 1998 to 2001 the young artist performed numerous leading roles in the ensemble of the Nuremberg Opera. His years at the Leipzig Opera 2001-2004 won him increasing renown for such parts as Wolfram, Posa, Germont, Ford, Conte / Le nozze di Figaro, Chorèbe / Les Troyens. Guest engagemants have included further perfomances in Nuremberg, and Leipzig, as well as at the Finnish National Opera (Guglielmo & Escamillo), Staatsoper Dresden (Guglielmo, Ford), Strasbourg (Ford), Kopenhagen (Posa & Wolfram), Tel Aviv (Silvio) De Vlaamse Opera (Danilo, Don Giovanni & Onegin), Teatro Real, Madrid (Carmina Burana & Szenen aus Goethes Faust), San Francisco & Atlanta (Conte), Savonlinna Opera Festival (Valentin, Silvio, Wolfram) and the Metropolitan Opera, New York (Valentin & Schaunard). At a moment Hakala is member of the ensemble in the Finnish National Opera. Tommi Hakala has given concerts in many European cities as well as in the U.S.A. Further engagemants have included Orff: Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn: Paulus, Britten: War Requiem, Schumann: Szenen aus Goethes Faust, Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen & 8 th Symphony, Sibelius: Kullervo Symphony, Zemlinsky: Lyrische Sinfonie, Vaughn-Williams: Sea Symphony, James MacMillan: St.John's Passion to name but a few. He has worked with conductors like Leif Segerstam, Okko Kamu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Sakari Oramo, Osmo Vänskä, John Storgrds, Mikko Franck and like Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Michael Schnwandt, Friedemann Layer, Howard Arman, Axel Kober, Marc Albrecht, Dmitri Jurowski, Carlo Rizzi, Riccardo Frizza, Asher Fish, Bertrand de Billy, Sir Simon Rattle & Sir Colin Davis. Recently Tommi Hakala sang Wolfram in Kopenhagen, Germont and Danilo at the Finnish National Opera, Lysiart in Toulouse, Onegin in De Vlaamse Opera and Belcore in De Nederlandse Opera. Recent engagements include also Onegin, Marcello, Valentin & Amfortas at the Finnish National Opera and the 8th Symphony of Mahler with Concertgebouw Orchestra and Mariss Jansons.

Der finnische Bariton Tommi Hakala studierte an der Sibelius-Akademie in Helsinki und in Karlsruhe. Neben Festengagements in Nürnberg (1998-2001) und Leipzig (2001-2004) wurde er regelmäßiger Gast der Finnischen Nationaloper und des Savonlinna Opernfestivals.

2003 gewann er den BBC Singer of the World Wettbewerb und ist seit 2008 Ensemblemitglied der Finnischen Nationaloper. Seitdem gab er zahlreiche Konzerte in Europa und den USA, debütierte höchst erfolgreich mit Le Nozze di Figaro in San Francisco und Faust an der Metropolitan Opera in New York, sang Don Giovanni in Turku, Danilo/Die lustige Witwe an der Vlaamse Opera und in Bern, Carmen in Helsinki, Don Carlo in Kopenhagen & Tampere und Le Nozze di Figaro in Atlanta.
Im Dezember 2008 war Tommi Hakala mit La Bohéme erneut zu Gast an der Metropolitan Opera und 2009 hat er erfolgreich seinen ersten Belcore in De Nederlandse Oper in Amsterdam gesungen.

Die Aufnahme von Sibelius' Kullervo, an der Seite von Soile Isokoski und unter der Stabführung von Leif Segerstam wurde 2008 mit dem diapason d'or ausgezeichnet.
Engagements bis 2011, neben verschiedenen Konzertverpflichtungen, umfassen Yevgeni Onegin, La Bohème, Faust und Parsifal (Amfortas) in Helsinki, und Mahler 8.Sinfonie mit Concertgebouw Orchester unter der Leitung von Mariss Jansons.

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Tommi Hakala - Opera Repertoire