Bass-Baritone/Bass
2000 First lessons in Savonlinna Aino Ackté institute with Kammersänger Tom Krause and stage director Eija Tolpo
2008-2010 Collaboration with Finnish National Opera and Kammersänger Matti Salminen's foundation: an apprentice in Finnish National Opera
2010 Working with Maestro Daniel Barenboim in Teatro alla Scala in Milan
2010-15 Debut and engagements in Savonlinna Opera Festival
2019 Engagement as a permanent soloist at the Finnish National Opera
2023 debut as Daland in "Der fiegende Holländer" at Tampere Opera
Matti Turunen continues the great tradition of Finnish bass singers. His most important tutors have been Matti Salminen and Jaakko Ryhänen, but he also worked with Tom Krause, Jorma Hynninen, James Vaughn and Jeffrey Goldberg among others.
The Helsinki based bass was a soloist of the Finnish National Opera since 2019 and performed with the biggest Finnish orchestras and festivals. Already in early stage of his career (2010) Turunen covered Fasolt in Das Rheingold under Daniel Barenboim in The Ring at Teatro Alla Scala. In the Finnish National Opera he sang Colline (La bohème) with Patrick Fournillier, Hunding (Die Walküre). His roles also include Eremit (Der Freischütz), Zuniga (Carmen), Il Commendatore (Don Giovanni) and Bartolo (Le Nozze di Figaro). During the 2022/23 season, Matti added several new roles to his repertoire: Timur (Turandot) and Fafner (Siegfried), both at the FNO, as well as Daland (Der fliegende Holländer), which he sang at the Tampere Opera in February 2023.
In the summer of 2024, Turunen debuted as a soloist at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in the role of Commendatore (Don Giovanni) and returned in 2025 as Varlaam (Boris Godunov) and Timur (Turandot). In last season Turunen also debuted in Tampere as Rocco in Beethoven’s Fidelio and sang Sarastro in the Hong Kong Opera production of the Magic Flute. Matti recently made his German debut at the Munich State Opera as Pazjuk in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Christmas Eve, staged by Barrie Kosky. In summer 2026 Turunen will return to Savonlinna Opera Festival in the role Bartolo in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro.
