Jorma Silvasti

Due to his unique timbre and unusually wide repertoire, Jorma Silvasti has been one of Europe's most remarkable tenors for many years. In 2004 he made his Metropolitan Opera debut in Kátia Kabanová, returning as Števa in Jenufa in 2007. Born in Finland, Jorma Silvasti studied at the Savonlinna Music Institute, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and in Frankfurt, Germany. A winner of the renowned Timo Mustakallio Contest in Finland, he spent several years in Germany with positions in Krefeld-Mönchengladbach and at the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe (1985 – 1988). He soon made his debuts at the Los Angeles Opera and the Royal Opera Copenhagen.
Jorma Silvasti is an ensemble member of the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and a regular guest at the Vienna State Opera as well as the Savonlinna Opera Festival. The part of Loge in the Helsinki production of the Ring cycle as well as Laca in Janácek's Jenufa marked the transition to a more dramatic repertoire. Since then, he performed Loge (1998) and Erik in Der fliegende Holländer (1999) at the Bayreuth Festival, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, the Berliner Staatsoper and the Hamburg Staatsoper. Further roles include Max in Der Freischütz, Idomeneo and Parsifal at the Monnaie in Brussels, Peter Grimes and the title role in Aulis Sallinen's King Lear in Helsinki, Jenik in The Bartered Bride at Covent Garden, Stoltzing in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, and Števa in Jenufa. His concert repertoire extends from Bach and Beethoven, through Mahler to Stravinsky, and also includes contemporary composers. Recent and upcoming engagements are in Helsinki Der Freischütz, Boris Godunov (2008), Die Zauberflöte (2009), Peter Grimes and Yevgeni Onegin (2010), in Madrid and Munich Jenufa (2009), in Paris Katia Kabanova (2011), in Sevilla Der Fliegende Holländer (2008), In the Metropolitan Opera New York Katja Kabanova (2004), Jenufa (2007) and in the Wiener Staatsoper Osud (2005), Boris Godunov (2007/09/12) and Jenufa (2009).