Laura Nykänen

The Finnish mezzo-soprano Laura Nykänen studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with Yrjö Nykänen, Anita Välkki and Prof. Tom Krause. She completed her studies with Prof. Renato Federighi, Ks. Hans Sotin, Prof. Liselotte Hammes and Ingrid Bjoner.

Her first engagement in Germany was at the Opera House of Kiel. Then she proceeded to the Deutsche Oper am Rhein Duesseldorf. Numerous guest perfomances leaded her to other opera houses in Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Great Britain, Czech Republic , Japan and Finland. She worked with conducters such as Giuseppe Sinopoli, Adam Fischer, Christian Thielemann, Peter Schreier, Esa-Pekka Salonen and Sakari Oramo.

Laura Nykänen succeeded at the festivals of Bayreuth, Gran Canaria and Savonlinna. Her performances leaded her to the stages of the Scottish Opera in Glasgow, Gran Teatro del Liceu in Barcelona, Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Vlaamse Opera in Antwerpen and to the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki.

The repertoire of Laura Nykänen include roles such as Proserpina (Monteverdi Orfeo), Bradamante/Alcina, Polinesso/Ariodante, Amastre/Serse, Orfeo/Orfeo ed Euridice, Cherubino/Le Nozze di Figaro, Dritte Dame/Die Zauberflöte, Rosina/Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Isabella/L'Italiana in Algeri, Carmen/Carmen, Fenena/Nabucco, Maddalena/Rigoletto, Preziosilla/La Forza del destino, Ulrica/Il Ballo in maschera, Olga/Eugen Onegin, Marfa/Chowanschtschina, Fricka, Erda, Floßhilde/Das Rheingold, Rossweiße and Schwertleite/Die Walküre, Waltraute/Erste Norn/Floßhilde/Götterdämmerung, Orlowsky/Die Fledermaus, La Sphinxe/Enescu: Oedipe, Hermia/A Midsummer Night's Dream, Adriana/Saariaho: Adriana Mater and Duchess/Unsuk Chin: Alice in Wonderland.