Hi there!
Welcome to my homepage - I’m glad you found your way here!
I’m a Finnish-Swedish mezzo-soprano and consider myself to be a versatile artist. Or you could also call me a curious and passionate wild child, if you prefer that.
I grew up in the countryside in Närpes, the Swedish part of Finland. I wasn’t born into a classical music family - I would rather mime to mainstream pop songs of the 90’s in front of the mirror while no one was allowed to watch (but everybody was secretly watching of course) - but somehow I found my way to the world of classical music through other channels. I began playing the French horn at the age of 8 and by 15 I had tried out the first tunes of some Italian arias and found the language extremely fascinating and exotic. I was somehow hooked. Over twenty years later I still wonder how I ended up in the world of opera and the classical music business. Sometimes I wonder if things would have been different if I had grown up in a family of musicians if I would have known more, been ”more brilliant”, have had an easier path… But I think not. My background has taught me to keep my feet on the ground (please tell me when they are above!) and to be open-minded. That is certainly not always easy but I’m trying my best.
After five years of studies in Sweden (Piteå), five years in Finland (Helsinki), and five years in Germany (Oldenburg) I have now landed in one new country - Norway, where I live in Oslo with my dear Robert. Here I am hoping to find new networks and widening my views in the field of performing art as well as to get to know the Norwegian culture more - and enjoy the beautiful nature!
So WHAT does my musicianship consist of?
My repertoire stretches from early baroque to contemporary music. Whether opera, song, musical theatre or purely dramatic text, I am always searching for new ways to express it and to challenge myself. I’m terrified of losing myself into apathy and non-thinking, to becoming someone else’s marionette.
And WHAT INSPIRES me?
Brave people! Who dare to ask the hard questions and challenge conventions. Other liberal arts such as literature, psychology and philosophy interest and inspire me, as well as our complex bodies and the VOICE; I mean, how fascinating are these couple-of-centimeter small vocal cords in our throats?!
And WHAT does NOT INSPIRE me?
Name-dropping, putting people on pedestals, inequality, injustice. Yep.
And what do I DREAM of?
I’m definitely a dreamer and of course many things end up just being dreams, but at the moment I dream of creating my own performance company, to stage direct, to widen my own views in the field of the performing arts. Oops, I said them out loud, wrote them down, so I guess that’s a first step towards them?
Please call me or send me an email if you are interested in working with me or if you just want to have a chat about life!
Take care,
Erica
P.S. If you prefer a more conventional biography consisting of everything I have done so far in my singing career, please click HERE.