Tiina Vahevaara, coloratura soprano

Tiina Vahevaara graduated as a Master of Music in 1995 from the Sibelius Academy in both music performance and opera studies under Annika Ollinkari. She has undertaken further studies under Jeffrey Goldberg, Renata Scotto and Peter Schreier. She gave her debut concert that was organised by the Sibelius Academy in spring 1997.

Tiina Vahevaara has been a regular visitor with the Finnish National Opera since 1994. During the 2006-2007 season, she appeared in roles such as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni; the Contessa di Folleville in Rossini’s Journey to Reims under the direction of the Nobel prize winner Dario Fo; Lisette in Puccini’s La Rondine and last of all as Violetta in Verdi’s La Traviata, which was highly acclaimed by the public. Her roles during the 2007-2008 season will include Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème, Papgena in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and Valencienna in Franz Lehar’s The Merry Widow.

Her other roles at the Finnish National Opera have included Susanna in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Blonde in The Abduction from the Seraglio, Papageno in The Magic Flute, Adele in J. Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Sophie in R. Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, Frasquita in Bizet’s Carmen and Woglinde in Wagner’s Die Götterdämmerung.

Tiina Vahevaara has appeared at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in productions such as the opera trilogy Aika ja uni (The Age of Dreams) composed by Rechberger, Kortekangas and Aho, and in Verdi’s Rigoletto. She has also taken part in the Opera Cava Festival in Nilsiä as Pamina in Mozart’s The Magic Flute and in summer 2006 as Ännchen in C.M. von Weber’s Der Freischütz. Ms. Vahevaara is also a keen operetta performer and is in demand as a soloist in operetta productions in Finland’s provincial opera houses, and has appeared, for example, as Arsena in The Gypsy Baron, Countess Stasi in The Gypsy Princess, Valancienne in the Merry Widow and latterly as Lisa in Countess Mariza at the Lohja Tenor Festival. In August, Ms. Vahevaara can be heard in Lohja once again, only in the title role of Countess Mariza.

La Traviata (Tiina Vahevaara, Jaakko Kortekangas), Photo by Heikki Tuuli

Tiina Vahevaara’s repertoire also includes a number of religious works, such as J. S. Bach’s St Matthew’s Passion and St John’s Passion, the B minor mass and Cantata no. 51 ‘Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen’, as well as Mozart’s Requiem and Exultate Jubilate. In April 2007, she appeared as the soloist with the Mikkeli City Orchestra in Luigi Boccherini’s Stabat Mater.

Tiina Vahevaara was awarded the Karita Mattila prize in 2003, and has also won second prize in the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition and the Marikanto Singing Competition. Ms. Vahevaara has recorded Kalevi Aho’s Chinese Songs with the Lahti Symphony Orchestra for the BIS label.

FORTHCOMING PERFORMANCES 2009-2010:

28 & 30 May 2009, Lahti Symphony, Orff: Carmina Burana

The Finnish National Opera: Mozart, Le Nozze di Figaro, Susanna

The Finnish National Opera: Verdi, Un Ballo in maschera, Oscar

The Finnish National Opera: Dvorák, Rusalka,

The Finnish National Opera: Léhar, The Merry Widow, Valencienne

PAST PERFORMANCES 2008-2009:

The Finnish National Opera: Mozart, The Magic Flute, Pamina

The Finnish National Opera: Lehár, The Merry Widow, Valencienne

The Finnish National Opera: Puccini, La Bohème, Musetta

Lohja Tenor Festival: Countess Mariza, operetta

The Finnish National Opera: Verdi, Traviata, Violetta