Biography in English

Tuuli Takala is a soprano from Helsinki, Finland, praised for her luscious voice (HBL), captivating stage radiance (Helsingin Sanomat) and her rich timbre and brilliant coloratura singing (Opernwelt Magazine). She performs regularly both in her native Finland and at renowned opera and concert stages of the world. In addition to guest appearances, she is also a member of the soloist ensemble of the famed Semperoper Dresden in Germany since 2015.

In the current season 2024-25 Tuuli perfoms at her home stage, the Semperoper Dresden, as Teresa (Benvenuto Cellini), Violetta Valéry (La Traviata), Mimì (La Bohème) and makes her role debut as Juliette in a new production of Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette directed by Barbara Wysocka and conducted by Robert Jindra. In the summer 2025 Tuuli returns to the Savonlinna Opera Festival, making her role debut there as Liù in Puccini’s Turandot. On the concert podium Tuuli will sing the soprano solo in Mahler’s 2nd Symphony (Resurrection Symphony) in Helsinki with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra lead by maestro Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Highlights from previous seasons include Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) for Opernhaus Zürich, Violetta Valéry (La Traviata) and Blanche de la Force (Dialogues des Carmélites) for the Finnish National Opera, Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Konstanze (Die Entführung aus dem Serail) for Staatsoper Hamburg, Mimì (La Bohème) and Violetta Valéry for the Opéra-Théâtre de Metz Métropole in France, as well as La Contessa di Folleville in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims for the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. In 2019 Tuuli gave her shining house debuts at London’s Royal Opera House Covent Garden and at the Staatsoper Berlin as the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte.
In the summer of 2024 Tuuli gave her debut at the Salzburger Festspiele as she jumped in at short notice as the Italienische Sängerin in Richard Strauss’ Capriccio lead by Christian Thielemann. In summer 2021 she gave her debut at the Bayreuther Festspiele as 1st Blumenmädchen in Wagner’s Parsifal conducted by Thielemann as well. She returned to the festival in 2022 as Ein junger Hirt in Tobias Kratzer’s celebrated production of Tannhäuser. The Savonlinna Opera Festival in Tuuli’s native Finland has played an important role in her career and after initially singing in the festival’s chorus as a student in 2011 and 2012, she has thrilled festival audiences there as the Queen of the Night (2014), Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro (as part of Semperoper Dresden’s visiting production in 2015), Zerlina in Don Giovanni (2016), Gilda in Rigoletto (2017), Marguerite in Faust (2018), soprano soloist in Mozart’s Great Mass in c minor (2019) and Pamina in Die Zauberflöte (2023).

The Semperoper Dresden has remained Tuuli’s home stage for almost 10 years, and during her time there as an ensemble member (since 2015) she has excelled as a versatile artist, performing in over 25 roles including Gilda (Rigoletto), Adina (L’elisir d’amore), Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor), Violetta (La Traviata), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), both the Queen of the Night and Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Olympia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Waldvogel (Siegfried), Marzelline (Fidelio), Teresa in Berlioz’s Benvenuto Cellini, Mimì (La Bohème), Valencienne (Die lustige Witwe), La Contessa di Folleville (Il Viaggio a Reims), Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Micaëla (Carmen).

Tuuli made her professional operatic debut in 2013 at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki as the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte. She returned as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro the next year (2014). 2015 saw her start in the Junges Ensemble of the Semperoper Dresden and the start of her internationally acclaimed career.

In addition to opera and musical theater, Tuuli is an active performer of lied and oratorio music and a sought-after concert soloist. Concert and recital performances have taken her all around Finland and to Germany, Austria, Japan, England and Slovakia. In December 2017 Tuuli performed as soprano soloist at the renowned Advent Concert in the Frauenkirche, Dresden, alongside Diana Damrau and Benjamin Appl, with the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Christian Thielemann. The concert was televised by the ZDF channel and broadcast all over Europe.
Other recent concert highlights include Gustav Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony (Symphony no.2) in Lisbon with the Gulbenkian Orchestra and Choir led by Hannu Lintu, Beethoven’s 9th Symphony with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under Eva Ollikainen, Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra under Dalia Stasevska, Mahler’s 8th Symphony (Mater Gloriosa) with the NDR Radiophilharmonie under Ingo Metzmacher at the Kunstfestspiele Hannover, Orff’s Carmina Burana and songs by Richard Strauss with the Tampere Philharmonic lead by Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Mendelssohn’s Ein Sommernachtstraum with the Staatskapelle Dresden conducted by Vladimir Jurowski, Debussy’s Verlaine songs with the Tapiola Sinfonietta and Mario Venzago and concerts featuring the world premiere of Olli Kortekangas’ new song cycle ’Songs of Meena’ with the Helsinki Philharmonic under Osmo Vänskä.

For season 2020-21 Tuuli was Artist-in-Residence of the Tapiola Sinfonietta in Finland. Fruits of this collaboration were brought forth in concerts including Mozart arias conducted by Jonas Rannila, Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder lead by Klaus Mäkelä and Benjamin Britten’s Les Illuminations with maestro Ryan Bancroft conducting.

Tuuli is also an active recitalist with an extensive lied and art song repertoire, regularly collaborating with Finnish pianist Tuula Hällström. Tuuli’s church music and concert repertoire includes various cantatas, the Christmas Oratorio, St. John Passion and Mass in B minor by J.S. Bach, Händel’s Messiah, Vivaldi’s Gloria, Mendelssohn’s Elias, W.A. Mozart’s Requiem and Exsultate jubilate, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem, Poulenc’s Gloria and Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle.

Tuuli is a prize winner in various international and national singing competitions. In July 2013 Tuuli won First Prize in both the Timo Mustakallio and the Kangasniemi singing competitions in Finland, and in April 2013 she was a finalist and the Arnold Schönberg Center Special Prize recipient in the 8th International Hilde Zadek singing competition in Vienna, Austria. In July 2015 Tuuli was a finalist and prize winner at the 34th International Hans Gabor Belvedere singing competition in Amsterdam.

In 2014 Tuuli was named Young Musician of the Year by the Pro Musica Foundation in Finland and in 2018 she was the recipient of the Curt Taucher Award of the Dresden Semperoper Foundation as well as Female Singer of the Year at the 1st AINO Opera Gala in Finland.

Tuuli received her education (Master of Music) at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, under the guidance of soprano Ritva-Liisa Korhonen. During her studies she performed in the roles of Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and La Contessa di Folleville (Il viaggio a Reims). Before her Master’s degree, Tuuli studied music education in the Sibelius Academy (Bachelor of Music) as well as singing and vocal pedagogy at the Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences (2011-2014).

Tuuli was born into a musical family in Helsinki, Finland in 1987. She began her musical education at age 5 with the violin, which remained her main instrument for almost 15 years. Since she was 6 years old she also sang in various choirs, including the renowned Tapiola Choir and the EMO Ensemble.