The jury of the Toivo Kuula Singing Competition 2025
Kirsi Tiihonen
The chairman of the jury, internationally distinguished top soprano Kirsi Tiihonen, has won numerous singing competitions. The most famous of these is the Cardiff Singer of the World singing competition, where Tiihonen won the first prize in the Lied category in 1995. Kirsi Tiihonen performs actively as an opera and concert soloist around the world. Her repertoire includes numerous operatic roles in works by Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Richard Strauss and Richard Wagner, among others. Kirsi Tiihonen has been especially praised for singing all the roles of Brünnhilde in Wagner's tetralogy. Tiihonen has led numerous master classes and she teaches singing in Germany and Finland. Tiihonen has served as a judge several times, e.g. Lappeenranta Song Contest and Helsinki Lied competition. Tiihonen chaired the jury in the 2021 Toivo Kuula Singing Competition.
https://www.opera-connection.com/artists/kirsi-tiihonen/
Sirkka Lamminen
Soprano Sirkka Lamminen (née Lampimäki) is the Artistic Director of the Toivo Kuula Singing Competition, a distinguished opera singer, pedagogue, and commentator. Her repertoire includes over 40 operatic roles as a guest soloist at venues such as the Hamburg State Opera, Opera di Roma, Finnish National Opera, Estonian National Opera, and Opernhaus Zürich. She has been awarded prizes in significant national singing competitions. She performs both in Finland and abroad with a diverse repertoire including solo songs, new music, oratorios, musical theatre and stage music, folk music, and songs from various rhythmic music categories.
Lamminen's unique expertise lies in her professional mastery of multiple musical and vocal styles. She serves as a lecturer at the University of the Arts Helsinki, where she trains Finland's leading actors, develops university education, writes articles, and gives interviews to the media, including the YLE documentary series "Teatterikorkea – näyttämölle valitut" (Theatre Academy – Chosen for the Stage). Her expertise is also sought after as a skills assessor, singing competition judge, and vocal coach for plays, performances, and films.
https://www.sirkkalamminen.com/
Mari Palo
Soprano Mari Palo is one of the most sought-after Finnish sopranos on both domestic and international stages. As a versatile artist, Palo's radiant presence has captivated audiences across genres, from classical lied and opera repertoire to lighter music. She has performed around the world as a lied singer and soloist with orchestras, and is also a popular guest at chamber music festivals. Palo has been a regular guest at the Finnish National Opera since 1999, with recent roles including Hanna Glavari in Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow and Jaakko Kuusisto's Mona in Ice. Mari Palo works together with Kari Ikonen as the artistic director of the Oulu Music Festival. The President of the Republic awarded Palo the Pro Finlandia medal in 2019.
Jaakko Ryhänen
Bass Jaakko Ryhänen's international career as a soloist began at the New York Metropolitan in 1983. Since then, Ryhänen's regular visits have been major opera houses in Europe. He has been engaged as the soloist to the Vienna State Opera. He has also made regular appearances at the Lyric Opera in Chicago, Los Angeles and the Bayreuth Music Festival. In addition to his opera career, Jaakko Ryhänen has also sung as a concert and oratorio soloist around the world. Ryhänen continues his career actively primarily as a pedagogue, but also continues to give concerts intensively. In 2016, Ryhänen was awarded as the Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, and in 1988 the Pro Finlandia medal by the president of the Finland. In 2013 he received the Finnish Cultural Foundation Award. In addition he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in 2014.
Waltteri Torikka
Baritone Waltteri Torikka is a Finnish opera and concert singer. He has been awarded with a grant from the Martti Talvela Foundation, the HSBC Laureates Prize of the Mozart Academy of the Aix-en-Provence Festival, the Bayreuth Scholarship, the Pro Musica Foundation's Young Musician of the Year award and the winner of the Lappeenranta National Singing Competition. Torikka has performed as a soloist with all Finnish symphony orchestras and, for example, at the BBC Proms festival at the Royal Albert Hall, singing the title part of Sibelius's Kullervo Symphony. He has bravely broken and crossed genre boundaries in his home country. He has been involved in the creation of premieres of several operas, both as a performer and artistic director.