Biography

Finnish tenor Tuomas Katajala is one of the most versatile and sought-after Scandinavian tenors and has achieved noticeable success not just as an opera singer, but as a concert singer as well. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki as well as in Rome and Amsterdam and has a longstanding and close relationship with the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and the Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he made his stage debut as Tamino/Die Zauberflöte. Following this, he was accepted into the master class at the Accademia Rossiniana and undertook the role of Libenskopf in Il Viaggio a Reims under the baton of Alberto Zedda at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro.

Past seasons’ opera highlights include, among others, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Opéra de Lille and in Tampere, Almaviva/Il barbiere di Siviglia at Komische Oper Berlin, Ferrando/Così fan tutte at Seattle Opera, Steuermann/Der fliegende Holländer in Helsinki and in a concert performance with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Don Ottavio/Don Giovanni at Finnish National Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, as well as Belmonte/Die Entführung aus dem Serail at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.

In 2019, he made his debut as Max in Der Freischütz on the occasion of a concert tour with concerts in Vienna, Brussels, Caen, Luxemburg, Aix-en-Provence and at Ludwigsburger Schlossfestspiele. This engagement marked a change in repertoire and was followed by debuts as Loge/Rheingold at the Finnish National Opera, Idomeneo in Tel Aviv and, most recently, Hoffegut/Die Vögel in Strasbourg.

Katajala’s vast concert- and oratorio repertoire includes the key works by J.S. Bach, Handel, Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Bruckner, Mahler and Britten, which he performed at renowned concert halls and festivals in the USA (i.a. Avery Fisher Hall in New York), France (Salle Pleyel in Paris), Germany (Laeiszhalle Hamburg), Portugal (Gulbenkian), Scandinavia, Spain, the UK (Glyndebourne Festival), and Japan. 

Tuomas Katajala worked with conductors such as Vladimir Ashkenazy, Kent Nagano, Klaus Mäkelä, Pablo Heras-Casado, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Susanna Mälkki, Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Hannu Lintu, and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.

In the season 2022/23 Tuomas will be on stage as Tamino/Zauberflöte at the Finnish National Opera as well as in Savonlinna, and as Max/Der Freischütz at Theater an der Wien, among others.
In addition, he can be heard in Beethoven's Symphony no 9 with the Wiener Symphoniker under Klaus Mäkelä, in Britten's "Serenade for tenor and horn" with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, in the title roles of Parsifal and Oedipus Rex, both with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, and as Loge in a concert performance of Das Rheingold in Singapore.

Projects in season 2023/24 include role debuts as Lohengrin at Savonlinna Opera Festival and as Erik/Der fliegende Holländer in Beijing, as well as a new production of Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites/Chevalier de la Force at the Finnish National Opera.

His concert engagements in this season count the opening concert of the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano at the Scala (Mahler’s Lied von der Erde), Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hannu Lintu, as well as further concerts in Italy, Portugal and Finland.

Artist Website

www.tuomaskatajala.com

Management

General Management

Artist Manager
 
 
 
 
Ingunn Sighvatsdóttir
Artist Manager
ingunn@orlob.net 
Mobil: +49-173-2 067 821

Repertoire

Repertoire Concert

Bach, C.P.E. St. Matthew Passion / Evangelist & Tenor
Bach, J.S. B minor mass
  Cantatas: BWV 1, 12, 20, 22, 23, 55, 60, 93, 96, 131, 140, 181, 191, 211
  Christmas Oratorio
  Magnificat
  St. John Passion / Evangelist & Tenor
  St. Matthew Passion / Evangelist & Tenor
Beethoven Missa solemnis
  Symphony no 9
Berlioz Te Deum
Britten Serenade for tenor, horn and strings, op. 31
Brahms Die schöne Magelone op. 33
  Liebeslieder-Walzer op. 52
Dvorak Stabat Mater
Franck Mass in A major
Gounod San Francesco d´Assisi
Gossec Requiem
Haatanen Christmas Oratorio
Haydn Requiem
  Stabat Mater
  The Creation
  The Seasons
  The Seven Last Words of Christ
Hidas Requiem
Händel Israel in Egypt
  Jephtha
  Messiah
  Utrecht Te Deum
Janacek Glagolitic Mass (Slavonic Mass)
Kortekangas Pyhiinvaelluskantaatti
Kostiainen Triduum Paschale
Liszt Missa Solemnis
  Psalm 13
Lloyd-Webber Requiem
Maasalo Christmas Oratorio
Madetoja Okon Fuoko (ballet) 
Väinämöisen kylvö
Mahler Das Lied von der Erde
Mendelssohn Elijah
  Lobgesang
  Paulus
Mozart C minor mass
  Cantata "”Die Maurerfreuden”"
  Davide penitente
  Litaniae de venerabili altaris sacramento
  Requiem
Mäenpää Vihreä Virta (Song cycle)
Orff Carmina Burana
Penderecki Polish Requiem
Pänkäläinen St. Luke Passion
Pärt Stabat Mater
Rachmaninoff Vigilia
Rossini Petite messe solennelle
  Stabat Mater
Rutter Psalmfest
Saint-Saëns         Oratorio de Noël
Sallinen A Windy Winter in Provence
  Barabbas Dialogues / The youth op. 84
Schumann Dichterliebe op.48
  Spanische Liebeslieder op. 138
Schubert Die schöne Müllerin op. 25
  Intende Voci
  Mass in A flat major
  Mass in E flat major
  Mass in G major
  Winterreise op. 89
Schostakowitsch Suite on Finnish Themes
Sibelius Rakastava -sarja
Strawinsky Pulcinella
Tammelin Requiem
Verdi Requiem
 

Repertoire Opera

Beethoven Fidelio Jaquino
Berg Lulu Alwa
  Wozzeck Andres
Braunfels Die Vögel Hoffegut
Britten Albert Herring Albert Herring
  Owen Wingrave Lechmere
Donizetti Don Pasquale Ernesto
  L'elisir d'amore Nemorino
  Lucia di lammermoor Edgardo
von Flotow Martha Lyonel
Glass The Fall of the House of Usher Roderick Usher
Halevy La Juive Leopold
Händel Acis and Galatea Acis
  Radamisto Tiridate
Lehár The Merry Widow Camille de Rosillon
Linkola Robin Hood Puna-Will
Meyerbeer Le prophète Jean de Leyde
Mozart Così fan tutte Ferrando
  Der Schauspieldirektor Monsieur Vogelsang
  Die Entführung aus dem Serail Belmonte
  Die Zauberflöte Tamino
  Don Giovanni Don Ottavio
  Idomeneo Idomeneo
  La clemenza di Tito Tito
  Zaide Gomatz
Puccini Gianni Schicchi Rinuccio
  La fanciulla del West Harry
Reinvere, Jüri Purge Hans
Rossini Il barbiere di Siviglia Conte Almaviva
  Il viaggio a Reims Belfiore
    Conte di Libenskof
  La Cenerentola Don Ramiro
Saariaho Adriana Mater Yonas
Strauss, J. Die Fledermaus Alfred
Strauss, R. Arabella Matteo
  Daphne 2. Schäfer
  Der Rosenkavalier Ein Sänger
  Die schweigsame Frau Henry Morosus
Stravinsky The Rake's Progress Tom Rakewell
Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin Lensky
Ullmann Der Kaiser von Atlantis Ein Soldat
    Harlekin
Verdi Falstaff Fenton
  La traviata Alfredo
  Rigoletto Duca
Wagner Das Rheingold Loge
  Der fliegende Holländer Steuermann
  Die Meistersinger v. Nürnberg David
  Tristan und Isolde Ein Hirte
    Junger Seemann
Zimmermann Die Soldaten Desportes

News

French opera masterpiece for the first time in Helsinki!
It will be a premiere for the Finnish National Opera when on 26th January 2024, for the first time ever, the curtains go up for Francis Poulenc's beloved religious opera Dialogues des Carmélites.

The "award-winning and visually striking production" by the French director Olivier Py had its acclaimed world premiere at the Theatre de Champs-Elysées in Paris in 2013 and can now be experienced on stage in Helsinki. Starring the mainly Finnish cast are four BOM artists; Marjukka Tepponen (Blanche de la Force), Tuomas Katajala (Chevalier de la Force), Niina Keitel (Mother Marie) and Iris Candelaria (Sister Constance). The production is conducted by Hannu Lintu and James Sherlock.

All performance dates:
Jan 26/31 & Feb 2/6/8/10/13/15/17/21/23, 2024

A video teaser as well as further information about the production, cast and performance dates can be found under the following link:
www.oopperabaletti.fi/en/... 

Press

 

Britten: Serenade for tenor, horn and strings / Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France / 14.10.22 / resmusica.com


"une interprétation parfaitement convaincante où l'on admire les qualités vocales de Tuomas Katajala que l'on découvre à Paris (timbre, puissance, diction)" 

Die Vögel / Opéra National du Rhin / 24.01.22 / sceneweb.fr


"Bright-timbred and reliably projecting Tuomas Katajala displays his solid heldentenor qualities" 

Don Giovanni (Stream) / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 10.06.20 / forumopera.com


"La clarté de l’émission et de l’articulation, la voix longue, virile, au timbre charnu le hissent au plus haut niveau." 
 

Das Rheingold / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 08.09.19 / operatraveller.com


"His youthful tenor, with a distinctive fast vibrato, gave much pleasure" 

Das Rheingold / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 03.09.19 / seenandheard-international.com


"Seemingly effortless beauty of tone and expressive acting characterised his performance" 

Der Freischütz / Grand Théâtre de Provence (Aix-en-Provence) / 09.03.19 / fredailleurs.blogspot.com


"projette parfaitement sa voix veloutée sans fléchir dans les aigus, avec une ligne de chante très soignée" 

Der Freischütz / Grand Théâtre de Provence (Aix-en-Provence) / 09.03.19 / destimed.fr


"un parfait Max" 

Der Freischütz / Théâtre de Caen / 05.03.19 / sceneweb.fr


"un ténor tout en rondeur et en clarté" 

Der fliegende Holländer (konzertant) / Auditorium Parco della Musica Rom / 04.04.18 / mtglirica.com


"è stato la seconda splendida sorpresa della serata" 

Der fliegende Holländer (konzertant) / Auditorium Parco della Musica Rom / 02.04.18 / connessiallopera.it


"efficace nell'interpretazione grazie a una voce dal timbro chiaro" 

Cosi fan tutte / Seattle Opera / 15.01.18 / seattletimes.com


"adroit, athletic actors with unique vocal strengths" 

Die Zauberflöte / Royal Opera House / 14.10.17 / olyrix.com


"grâce à l’agilité de sa technique et à la chaleur de son timbre" 

Die Entführung aus dem Serail / Savonlinna Opera Festival / 07.07.17 / bachtrack.com


"a strong higher register" 
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