Hi there!
Welcome to my homepage - I’m glad you found your way here!
I’m a Finnish-Swedish mezzo-soprano and as of 2024 I’m based in Oslo as a freelance musician. I’m a versatile artist or you can also call me a curious and passionate wild child! ;)
My repertoire stretches from early baroque to contemporary music. My curiosity and my passion for the performing arts has lead to an eternal search to discover new avenues of expression and to continually challenging myself, whether performing opera, sacred music, recitals, musical theatre or spoken word. I very much enjoy interdisciplinary projects, especially where there is alos much physical movement and spoken word! Using my whole body as a tool for expression is very important to me, not only the text or the music.
I’m inspired by many things but mostly by brave people! I’m inspired by those who dear to ask the hard questions, by those who challenge old conventions and by those who want to change structures in the art field. Other liberal arts such as literature, psychology and philosophy interests and inspires me as well as our complex bodies and the voice; I mean, how fascinating aren’t these a couple of centimeter small vocal cords in our throats?!
A bit about my background
Growing up in Närpes, a rural Swedish-speaking area in Finland, classical music was not familiar to me, but learning to play the French horn as a child led to a fascination with classical singing during my teen years. These interests led me to pursue studies as a young singer at the Conservatory of Music in Kokkola in Finland, further to the Piteå University of Music in Northern Sweden, thence to conclude my education at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 2016. The most important guides during my studies have been mezzo-soprano Monica Groop and sopranos Christiane Iven, Emma Rönnlund, Synnöve Dellquist. As of now norwegian Åshild Kyvik Bauge inspires me with her wide experience in he field singing and teaching.
As an opera soloist I have been a guest at the Finnish National Opera, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Vaasa Baroque Festival, Tampere Opera, Ulriksdal Palace Theatre in Stockholm. To FNO:s big stage I will return in spring 2026 in a very interesting and very much relevant piece: The Handmaid’s Tale by Poul Ruders.
As a concert soloist I have performed with most orchestras in my native Finland: Turku Philharmonia, The Chamber Orchestra of Lapland, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Oulu Sinfonia and Vaasa City Orchestra, to name a few. Conductors I have collaborated with are Klaus Mäkelä, John Storgårds, Tomas Djupsjöbacka, Anna-Maria Helsing, Aapo Häkkinen, Arnold Östman, Ainars Rubikis, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Topi Lehtipuu and Philippe Auguin, among others. Stage directors I have met on my way are Ida Kronholm, Soledad Howe, Vilppu Kiljunen, Siljamari Heikinheimo, Dietrich Hilsdorf, Tobias Ribitzki.
Between 2019 and 2023 I was a member of the opera ensemble at the Oldenburg State Theater in Germany.
Opera roles I have performed include Hänsel (Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel), Octavian (R. Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier), Concepcíon (Ravel: L’heure espagnol), Annio (Mozart: La clemenza di Tito), Kuchtík (Dvorak: Rusalka), Cupid (Blow: Venus and Adonis), Ruggiero (Händel: Alcina), Dorabella (Mozart: Così fan tutte), Siebel (Gounod: Faust), Alcina (F. Caccini: L’isola d’Alcina) and Cherubino (Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro). And some contemporary opera roles; Serafina Suomi (O. Kortekangas: Veljeni vartija), Frida Kahlo (K. Aho), Katrina (J.Mattsson: Katrina) and Elisa (J. Sandström: Elisa och fantasin). (see repertoire list for more)
My mother-tongue is Swedish, but I’m also more or less fluent in English, German, Finnish and Norwegian.
Feel free to call me or send me an email if you are interested in working with me!
Take care,
Erica