Baroque tenor, evangelist, interpreter of early music

Tenor Jussi Salonen has performed as a soloist, especially in Baroque church works, and has been in demand for the important role of Evangelist in Bach’s Passions. His interpretation of the Evangelist part of the St John’s Passion has been widely praised for its expressive power by critics and the general public alike. His rich, colorful, softly lyrical tenor voice has also been heard in early music ensembles in Germany, Holland, Belgium and elsewhere. In Finland, he has been a soloist with various City Orchestras, the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and Ensemble Nylandia.

Opera singer

Since 2015 Salonen has performed as a guest soloist with the Finnish National Opera and has also appeared in stage roles at the Svenska Teater in Turku, the Madetoja Hall in Oulu and in opera performances at the Berlin nightclub Zum wilden Renate. His roles have included Don Ottavio (Mozart’s Magic Flute), Yaryzhkin (Shostakovich’s The Nose), Ullrich Eißlinger (Wagner’s The Master Singers), Peter Squint (Britten’s The Turn of the Screw) and Lucano (Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea).

A versatile musician

Jussi Salonen holds a Master of Music degree in both church music and opera singing, both from the Sibelius Academy. He has also studied at McGill University in Montreal with Professor Stefano Algieri (voice), Michael McMahon (lied), Julian Wachner (interpretation) and Patrick Hansen (stage work). He perfected his vocal technique under the guidance of Sami Kustaloglu when living in Berlin. He won third place at the last tenor competition in Lohja in 2009.
Since 2016, he has held the position of A-Cantor in the parish of Korso in Vantaa, from which he is currently on sabbatical.