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.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 in Helsinki, Idomeneo in Tel Aviv, Hoffegut/Die Vögel in Strasbourg, and most recently Parsifal in concert in Finland and Milan, Lohengrin in Savonlinna, and Erik/Der fliegende Holländer in Beijing.
Past seasons’ additional opera highlights include, among others, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Staatsoper Unter den Linden Berlin, Opéra de Lille, Finnish National Opera, in Tampere and Savonlinna, Belmonte/Die Entführung aus dem Serail in Savonlinna, Steuermann/Der fliegende Holländer in Helsinki and in a concert performance with the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Max/Der Freischütz at Theater an der Wien, and Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites/Chevalier de la Force in Helsinki.
Katajala has a vast concert- and oratorio repertoire, 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), the Netherlands (Concertgebouw Amsterdam), Portugal (Gulbenkian), Scandinavia, Spain, the UK (Glyndebourne Festival), and Japan.
Recent highlights on the concert stage include Beethoven's Symphony no 9 with the Oslo Philharmonic and Wiener Symphoniker, both under Klaus Mäkelä, Britten's "Serenade for tenor and horn" with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Mahler’s Lied von der Erde at the Scala as well as the title roles in concert performances of Parsifal and Oedipus Rex, all with the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano, Das Rheingold/Loge in concert in Singapore, and Lili Boulanger’s Faust et Hélène with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Hannu Lintu.
He 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, Tugan Sokhiev, Andrey Boreyko, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and Patrick Lange and stage directors such as Romeo Castellucci, David Marton, Ted Huffman, and Olivier Py.
Projects in season 2024/25 include his role debuts as Andrey Khovansky/Khovanshchina in Helsinki and Stockholm (Esa-Pekka Salonen) and as Pollux in Strauss’ Die Liebe der Danae in Genoa with Fabio Luisi.
Further, Katajala will perform the roles of Max/Der Freischütz at Opera Leipzig, Erik/Der fliegende Holländer in semi-staged concerts in Luxembourg and Brussels (Tarmo Peltokoski), and the title role of Idomeneo on a concert tour with the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra with performances in Helsinki (Music Centre), Amsterdam (Concertgebouw) and at the Tage Alter Musik festival in Herne.
In addition, he can be heard in Mahler’s Symphony no 8 in Lisbon and Estonia, as well as in Beethoven’s Symphony no 9 in Toulouse and Finland.
Artist Website
www.tuomaskatajala.comManagement
General ManagementArtist 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 | Erik | |
Steuermann | ||
Die Meistersinger v. Nürnberg | David | |
Lohengrin | Lohengrin | |
Parsifal | Parsifal | |
Tristan und Isolde | Ein Hirte | |
Junger Seemann | ||
Zimmermann | Die Soldaten | Desportes |
News

Bull's Eye in Leipzig!
Following his great success in the role of Max in Weber’s “Der Freischütz” in France, Austria and Luxembourg in past seasons, Tuomas Katajala will reprise the role in his first performance at Opera Leipzig. From February 14th 2025 he can be experienced in the revival of the production by Christian von Götz. With him on stage are Tuomas Pursio as Kaspar, Yorck Felix Speer as Eremit and Miljenko Turk as Ottokar. The performance run will be conducted by Yura Yang.Performance dates: 14 February, 01 March, 16 March, 20 April 2025
Further information about the production can be found here:
www.oper-leipzig.de/ ...
Video trailer:
www.youtube.com/ ...
Media
Images
Photo:Heikki Tuuli

Photo: Heikki Tuuli

Photo: Heikki Tuuli

Photo: Heikki Tuuli

Photo: Elina Katajala
Download available

Photo: Elina Katajala
Download available

Photo: Elina Katajala
Download available

Photo: Elina Katajala
Download available
Audio
Bach's "St. John Passion" on Good Friday from the Kallio Church in Helsinki
Video
Beethoven's Symphony No 9 with the Oslo Philharmonic and under the baton of Klaus Mäkelä ( Solo: 54:00)
Beethoven's "Missa solemnis" under Hannu Lintu at the Savonlinna Opera Festival (Solo & Ensemble 35:15 - 39:15)
Mahler Symphony No 8 under Hannu Lintu in Helsinki
Press
Beethoven Symphony no 9 / Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse / 03.01.25 / Diapason
"Le ténor Tomas Katajala chante la marche avec l’élan, l’éclat et le lyrisme qu’on aime, sans à-coups et sans forcer"
Lohengrin / Savonlinna Opera Festival /
23.07.24 / Frankfurter Allgemeine
"In Tuomas Katajala findet sich ein Titelheld, der sich mit einer Mühelosigkeit über das Orchester hinwegsetzt, dass man kaum glauben mag, es handele sich um ein Rollendebüt."
Das Lied von der Erde / Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano / 16.09.23 / artesnews.it
"[...]Tuomas Katajala non ha problemi a far emergere la sua radiosa vocalità, tingendo di umorismo anche i passaggi in cui canta dei dolori della vita e della certezza della morte"
Oedipus Rex / Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano / 08.05.23 / connessiallopera.it
"Katajala emerge per una voce squillante, omogenea e morbida nell'emissione, voluminosa e dal metallo lucente, ben proiettata e di seducente pasta chiara e malleabile. Si apprezzano, altresì, l'efficacia e la cura nel porgere la parola, la limpidezza nella dizione, la facilità all'acuto, l'eleganza interpretativa, qualità messe in mostra sin dall'aria d'apertura "Liberi, vos liberabo a peste"."
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 / 26.01.22 / opern.news
"Mit Tuomas Katajala war auch diese Partie ideal besetzt, sein heldenhafter Tenor kommt mit schwerem Metall und einer geradezu liedhaften Wortdeutlichkeit."
Die Vögel / Opéra National du Rhin / 24.01.22 / sceneweb.fr
"Bright-timbred and reliably projecting Tuomas Katajala displays his solid heldentenor qualities"
Die Vögel / Opéra National du Rhin / 21.01.22 / olyrix.com
"In the role of Hoffegut, Tuomas Katajala projects a clear and bright voice, with a full-bodied timbre, with a vivid and light vibrato, in a very lyric phrasing carried by a powerful breath."
Die Vögel / Opéra National du Rhin / 19.01.22 / anaclase.com
"The voice of the day is the one of Tuomas Katajala, a bright and very sharp tenor voice whose art of phrasing and musicality in every instant win all the votes."
Covid fan tutte / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / Oktober 2020 / airmail.news
"the singing you won't forget comes from Tuomas Katajala, a frisky tenor whose joyous timbre, vibrant projection, and unforced elegance of line are like sunshine on a cloudy day. If there's a Mozart tenor at large who can touch Katajala nowadays, he's not on our radar."
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 / 17.09.19 / onlinemerker.com
"war ein überaus präsenter Loge mit roten Haaren und einem facettenreichen Tenor, mit dem er gerade für diese spezielle Rolle ideal besetzt war"
Das Rheingold / Finnish National Opera Helsinki / 12.09.19 / olyrix.com
"le Loge de Tuomas Katajala oscille de facon crédible entre un jeu excité et une expression tantôt mélancolique, tantôt susurrante, toujours avec un ténor clair et chaleureux"
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"
Die Zauberflöte / Opéra de Lille / 06.05.19 / olyrix.com
"montre une force courageuse dans la voix, qui se trouve incarnée par un timbre brillant aux aigus d'airain"
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 / 04.03.19 / olyrix.com
"Sa voix articulée et déclamée, au timbre moelleux présente des aigus aisés et bien projetés"
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"