Soprano Päivi Nisula started her music studies at the Turku Conservatory, majoring in piano. She graduated from the Sibelius Academy with a Master of Music degree in opera in 1991 and gave her first concert in 1992. Nisula became known to the general public after winning the Timo Mustakallio Song Contest in 1989. Nisula made her operatic debut in 1990, and in 1993 she was named Opera Soloist of the Year by the Finnish Opera Association. In 1993 she was appointed soloist of the Finnish National Opera. Nisula has appeared at the Savonlinna Opera Festival from 1992 to 2007, and has also performed at opera festivals in Germany. As a soloist with the orchestra, Nisula has performed not only in Finland but also in all the Nordic countries, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey, England, the United States, Israel, Japan and Malaysia. In 2010 she made her debut at Carnegie Hall in New York. Nisula has worked as a singing teacher and lecturer at Sibelius Academy, Metropolia and TurkuAMK.

In 2010, Päivi Nisula founded the Saaristo-oopperayhdistys ry, which aims to develop regional opera activities and reform the way opera is performed in the theatre. On 1 July 2016, Nisula retired from the Finnish National Opera after 25 years as a soloist. She will continue her career as an opera singer, most recently in 2024 at the Finnish National Opera in Leevi Madetoja’s opera Pohjalaisia and in summer 2025 at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in M. Musorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov.