Baritone Waltteri Torikka, winner of the Lappeenranta Singing Competition, is an opera and concert singer creating an exceptionally wide-ranging career. He has received a grant from the Martti Talvela Foundation, the HSBC Laureates prize from the Mozart Academy at the Aix-en-Provence Music Festival, a Bayreuth scholarship and the Young Musician of the Year award from the Pro Musica Foundation in Finland. He graduated with excellent marks from the Sibelius Academy and from the Royal Opera Academy in Copenhagen, and he studied Lied and opera further at the Karlsruhe Music Academy.
Waltteri Torikka has appeared as a soloist with every Finnish symphony orchestra. His appearances further include Sibelius’s Kullervo Symphony at the BBC Proms, soloist performances with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie and the Camerata Salzburg, and a tour with Den Jyske Opera in Denmark. He has worked with conductors such as Mikko Franck, Anna-Maria Helsing, Leif Segerstam, Ville Matvejeff, Louis Langrée, Michael Balke, Hannu Lintu, Risto Joost, Alberto Hold-Garrido, John Storgårds, Sakari Oramo, Dalia Stasevska and Esa-Pekka Salonen.
His opera roles include the title roles in Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin and Le nozze di Figaro; Papageno in The Magic Flute; Demetrius in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Guglielmo in Così fan tutte; Belcore in L’elisir d’amore; Danilo in The Merry Widow; Amfortas in Parsifal; Escamillo and Morales in Carmen; Topi in The Red Line; and Marcello and Schaunard in La bohème. He has also been involved in the world premieres of several new operas as both performer and artistic director at Hämeenkyrö Festival.
Waltteri Torikka’s début album Sydän [Heart] with the Jyväskylä Sinfonia went platinum in record-breaking time and also earned him an Emma Prize nomination. His most recent album, containing songs by Oskar Merikanto, was released in spring 2024. He also appears on numerous other recordings of classical music.
His calendar in the current year includes appearances as Belcore in Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore at the Jyväskylä Opera, in a monologue opera written for him by Joel Järventausta at the Turku City Theatre and in the title role of Don Giovanni at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. He also appears with Sinfonia Lahti and the Vaasa City Orchestra besides giving a series of recitals around Finland to celebrate his 40th birthday as well as 15th anniversary as an artist.
