A native of Finland and the winner of several awards and scholarschips, Tuomas Katajala studied singing at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, pursued his education in Rome and Amsterdam and is currently studying with Seppo Ruohonen. In 2007 he was selected to the Accademia Rossiniana master class in Italy and performed in Viaggio a Reims at the Rossini Festival under Maestro Alberto Zedda.

Tuomas Katajala has performed many concerts and recitals all over Europe, in Japan and in the USA, including the Musik på slåttet Festival at the Royal Palace in Stockholm, the International Organ Festival in Lahti, the Finnish concert serial Urkuyö ya Aaria (Organ night and Aria), and the French Music Festivals Les Heures Romantiques, Auvers sur Oise, and Noirlac. He made successful debuts at the Royal Albert Hall in London and at the Avery Fischer Hall in New York. In 2007 he recorded Opera arias by Rossini with Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra to Finnish radio broadcast  YLE, conductor was  Alberto Hold-Garrido.

His concert repertoire includes Mahler’s Lied von der Erde, major works by Bach, Handel, Beethoven, Mozart and Verdi as well as a wide range of contemporary music, i.e. Ilmari Mäenpää’s song cycle Vihreä virta,  E. J. Rautavaara’s opera Auringontalo, Leevi Madetoja’s Ballett Okon Fuoko and Väinämöisen kylvö, a composition for tenor and orchestra, both recorded by Alba in 2004. He performed Armas Launis’Aslak Hetta in a world premiere and recording (Ondine, 2004) and Kungingas Lähtee ranskaan (the King goes forth to France) by Aulis Sallinen.

The artist has further performed with the Bologna Teatro Comunale Orchestra London Festival Orchestra, the St. Petersburg Hermitage Orchestra, Basel Opera Orchestra, Oxford Philharmonic, Helsinki Philharmonic, the Finnish Radio-Symphony Orchestra, Oulu City Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic and the Baroque Ensembles of Stockholm and Helsinki, with such conductors as Laurence Equilbey, Patrick Gallois, Roy Goodman, Mikko Franck, Okko Kamu, Marko Letonja, Mats Liljefors, Hannu Lintu, Susanna Mälkki, Jean Thorel, Sakari Oramo, Marios Papadopoulos, Pietro Rizzo, John Storgåds, Richardo Sonoda, Sir David Wilcox und Hugh Wolf.

Mr. Katajala’s opera engagements have included the Savonlinna Opera Festival as Tamino in Magic Flute and a Mozart Short Cuts opera tour production Le Comte´s role in France and Luxemburgh including the hauses like Grande de Luxemburgh and Paris Cite de la Musique (2006). In 2007 he sang the role of Libenskof in the production of Alberto Zedda´s Accademia Rossiniana in Pesaro Rossini Opera Festival. At the Finnish National Opera he performed in Viaggio a Reims (2006),  Il Barbiere di Siviglia (2007) and Adriana mater by Kaija Saariaho (2008). Upcoming projects: Don Giovanni in Tampere, The Magic Flute and Cosí fan tutte at the Finnish National Opera as well as concerts of House of the Dead (Janacek) at the Helsinki Festival and in Stockholm.

Teachers and master classes:
Seppo Ruohonen, Esko Jurvelin, Peter Lindroos (Sibelius-Academy, Helsinki), Stephen Kramer, Sergio La Stella (Rome), Udo Reinemann, (Amsterdam Conservatory), Alberto Zedda (Accademia Rossiniana), Rudolf Jansen, Kondrad Richter, Helmut Deutsch.

Awards:
International Tenor Competition, Jyväskylä (First Prize, 2002)
Musica Sacra Competition, Rome (First Prize, Scholarschip, 2003)
Gösta Winbergh Tenor Competition, in Stockholm (Second Prize, 2004)
Martti Talvela Foundation (Scholarschip, 2005)