Biography

Riikka Hakola has become known as a full-blooded performer of strong female roles. Her ability to empathize with her roles, acting skills as well as her beautiful voice and versatile musicality, has earned her an acclaimed reputation as an opera- and concert singer at operas and concert halls around the world. She was one of the leading sopranos at the Finnish National Opera for twenty years and has been performing in 35 countries and four continents.

Riikka Hakola graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki after which she continued private studies in London, Berlin, New York and Milan. Her career took off at young age after she won the first prize at the Kangasniemi and second prize at the Timo Mustakallio Vocal competition. Soon after she made a successful debut at The Finnish National Opera as Lucia di Lammermoor. Since that, she was one of the leading sopranos at the Finnish National Opera for over twenty years making numerous major roles.

Her operatic repertoire encompasses more than 50 major roles such as Violetta in La Traviata, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Adina in L’elisir d’amor, Rosina in Barbiere di Sevilla, Lucia di Lammermoor, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Micaela in Carmen, Natasha in War and Peace, Anna Bolena, Arabella, Aino in Aino by Melartin, Mimi, Giuditta, Tosca, Eurydike in Orpheus in the Underworld, Jenny in Mahagonny, Chiang Ching in Nixon in China, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus and Hanna Glawary in Merry Widow.

One of Ms. Hakola’s the most beloved roles has been Violetta in La Traviata, which she performed in the Finnish National Opera over ten years, and in ten other houses including Stockholm and Copenhagen Royal Operas, Oslo National Opera and Bolshoi in Moscow. She performed Donna Anna years at the Finnish National Opera and also at the Latvian National Opera, the Bonn Opera, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Düsseldorf, and in the USA with Baltimore and Washington Opera companies. Other operatic quest appearances are as Arabella in Dresden Semperoper and in Strassburg, Mullhousen, Kiev, Macau, Kishinev, Tallinn, Rio de Janeiro and Frankfurt opera companies. She was invited in the year 2002 to the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York as Natasha in Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace.

Her appearances as a concert soloist with many internationally renowned orchestras, conductors and together with many great opera stars, such as with Placido Domingo in Helsinki, as well as her recitals with piano accompaniment with Ilkka Paananen among others, have been widely respected.

Ms. Hakola has also performed several world premieres by contemporary composers such as Bird and the Wind by Eero Hämeenniemi,  Magic Mirror by Jukka Linkola, the 5. Symphony by Erkki Salmenhaara and as  Onerva in The Knife by Paavo Heininen, Hilda in Aleksis Kivi by Eino-Juhani Rautavaara, Birgitta by Jani Sivén, Frieda by Kari Tikka, Tango Solo by Timo-Juhani Kyllönen and Silvia and I by Markus Fagerudd.
She can also be seen in films such as Mahagonny (Jenny, 1. price in Banff, Canada), Orpheus in the Underworld (Eurydike), Night and Sun (shortfilm) and Luonnotar (composed by Jean Sibelius).

September 2022 she sang in Helsinki the role of Queen Tye in Akhnaten by Philip Glass.
She was starring as a protagonist in a new music and dance film ”Mirages” (music by Kaija Saariaho, directed by Marikki Hakola). The premiere took place in May 2022.

Opera Performances and Concerts

Riikka Hakola’s operatic repertoire encompasses more than 50 major roles such as Violetta in La Traviata, Gilda in Rigoletto, Donna Anna and Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni, Fiordiligi in Cosi fan Tutte, Adina in L’elisir D’amor, Mimi in La Boheme, Aino by Melartin, Rosina in Barbiere di Sevilla, Lucia di Lammermoor, Nedda in I Pagliacci, Micaela in Carmen, Natasha in War and Peace, Anna Bolena, I Dame in Magic Flute, Eurydike in L’anima del Philosopho, Arabella, Flaminia in Il Mondo della Luna, Desdemona in Otello, Chiang Ching in Nixon in China, Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus, Monica in Medium, Giuditta, Tosca and Hanna Glawary in Merry Widow. 

Her latest performances (2019-2021) include roles such as Giuditta, Mimi, Queen Silvia in Silvia and I by Fagerudd, Old Birgitta in Birgitta by Sivén and Queen Tye in Akhnaten by Glass. 

One of Ms Hakola’s the most beloved roles has been Violetta in La Traviata, which she has performed in ten houses including Finnish National Opera, Stockholm and Copenhagen Royal Operas, Oslo National Opera and Bolshoi in Moscow. Donna Anna she has performed also at the Bonn Opera, Riga, Deutsche Oper am Rhein in Dusseldorf, and in the USA with Baltimore and Washington Opera companies. She was invited in year 2002 to the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York as Natasha (covering Anna Netrebko) in Sergei Prokofiev’s War and Peace. Other operatic guest appearances are as Arabella in Dresden Semperoper and in Strassburg, Mulhousen, Garsington, Kiev, Riga, Tallinn, Macau, Rio de Janeiro, Frankfurt, Alma Ty opera companies and St John Smith’s Square in London. 

Riikka Hakola has had a great pleasure to work with excellent conductors, orchestras and musicians around the world in 35 countries.

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, Düßeldorfer Symphoniker, Staatsphilharmonie Rheiland-Pfalz Orchestra in Ludwigshafen, Radio Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Vaasa City Orchestra, Helsinki Sinfonietta, Kuopio Symphony Orchestra, Lappeenranta City Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Oulu Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic, Virtuosi di Kuhmo, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Virtuosi di Praga, London School Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, State Bratislava Radio Symphony Orchestra, Primavera Chamber Orchestra in Britain, Moscov Chamber Orchestra ”Viva Musica”, State Symphony Capella of Russia, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Brasilian Sympony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra, Jönköping Sinfonietta, Örebro Symphony Orchestra, Hungarian National Philharmonic Orchestra and many other orchestras and ensembles.

Riikka Hakola has been performing with several world known conductors, such as Leif Segerstam, Okko Kamu, Sakari Oramo, Sixten Ehrling, Juha Kangas, Maurizio Barbacini, Eri Klas, Mikko Frank, Atso Almila, Ulf Söderblom, Ralf Gothoni, Jorma Panula, Hannu Lintu, Gianandrea Noseda, Christian Badea, Placido Domingo, Pietro Rizzo, Alberto Hold-Garrido, Valery Gergiev, John Fiore, Ralf Weikert, Osmo Vänskä, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Ari Rasilainen, Paavo Järvi, Peter Ash, Markus Lehtinen, Petri Sakari, Pertti Pekkanen, Paolo Olmi, John Storgards, Marco Guidarini, Jonas Rannila, Kari Tikka, Tuomas Hannikainen, Ari Angervo, Nils Schweckendiek, Leonid Kortšmar, Miguel Gomes-Martines among others. 

Savonlinna Opera Festival, Al Bustan Festival in Lebanon, Garsington Opera Festival, Maria Biesu Festival in Moldova, Macau Music Festival, Ilmajoki Music Festival, Turku Music Festival, Helsinki Festival, Ehrenburger Klassigtage, Festival de l’Été Mosan, Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, Lahti Organ Festival, Iitti Music Festival, Sysmä Summer Sounds, Parainen Organ Festival, and Dresden Music Festival among others.

Ms. Hakola has performed several world premieres by contemporary composers as Eino-Juhani Rautavaara, Paavo Heininen, Eero Hämeenniemi, Erik Berglund, Erkki Salmenhaara, Timo-Juhani Kyllönen, Jukka Linkola, Kaija Saariaho, Jani Sivén and Markus Fagerudd. Opera compositions such as Frieda by Kari Tikka, Tango Solo by Timo-Juhani Kyllönen and Silvia and Me by Markus Fagerudd were specially composed for her. 

Kurt Weill: Mahagonny (Jenny). Directed by Eija-Elina Bergholm TV2, I price in BANFF, Canada. 

Jacques Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld (Eurydike). Directed by Jussi Tapola. 

Jukka Linkola: Angelica (I Woman). Directed by Juha Hemánus.

Jean Sibelius: Luonnotar. Directed by Marikki Hakola. 

Kaija Saariaho: Mirages. Directed by Marikki Hakola.

Jukka Linkola: Yö ja Aurinko. Directed by Eija-Elina Bergholm. 

W. A. Mozart: Don Giovanni (Donna Anna) Split Festival in Croatia (YouTube)

Bernhard Henrik Crusell: The Little Slave Girl (Zetulbe)

Erkki Salmenhaara: Isle of Bliss — Symphony no 5.

Songs by Henry Purcell

Christmas Carrols with Sigyn Quartet

Haapaniemi: Requiem

Johannes Brahms: Requiem (State Symphony Capella of Russia)

Opera arias (Finnish National Opera)

Songs by Richard Strauss 

Aino’s aria and songs by Erkki Melartin

Songs by Jean Sibelius

Catalan folksongs

Benjamin Britten: Les Illumination (Virtuosi di Kuhmo)

Songs by Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel and Joseph Haydn (Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival)

Latest performances

Riikka Hakola’s current performances are Queen Silvia in Silvia and I by Markus Fagerudd (September 2021 at the Sibelius-Festival) and as Queen Tye in Akhnaten by Philip Glass (September 2022 in Helsinki). She is staring as a protagonist in a new music and dance film Mirages, music by Kaija Saariaho, directed by Marikki Hakola (the premiere takes place in May 2022). Concerts with orchestras and ensembles.

Positions of Trust

Riikka Hakola has been participating as a member of the Jury in the Mikuláš Schneider-Trnavský International Singing Competition in Slovakia 2008, the Klaudia Taev International Competition for Young Opera Singers in Estonia 2017, 2021 and 2023 and the IIIrd International Virgilijus Noreika Competition for Singers 2023.

Erkki Melartin Society, Member of the Board (2017-)

Laulumusiikin Ystävät Association, Member of the Board, Vice Chairman (2017-2023)

Senior Adviser at the Kroma Productions Ltd., a production company for music and dance films and virtual set designs (www.kroma.fi).

The participant of Kroma team in Finpro’s Luovimo program, which trained creative industry leaders and developed internationalization capabilities.

Riikka Hakola has participated since 2011, in the activities of a network of international music and media organizations: the IMZ International Music + Media Center (imz.at), as well as the Avant Première events and markets in Cannes and Berlin. Through the IMZ organization, Hakola is a member of an international contact network of media companies (TV companies, online and record companies).

Vocal Coaching

Riikka Hakola has been teaching and working as a mentor to young singers throughout her career and is also well-known in organizing and teaching in Master Classes for classical singers both in the operatic and art song fields. She is an expert on the Italian opera tradition of Belcanto.

Ehrenburger Klassigtage and Paliesiaus Dvaras

2015 Riikka Hakola founded a new festival Ehrenburger Klassiktage (later Ehrenburger Operntage) in Germany at Ehrenburg Castle in Brodenbach, where she served as an artistic director, screenwriter, stage director and performer during the years 2015-2018. 

She was touring with her group also in Lithuania in Paliesiaus Dvaras concert hall.

Ehrenburger Klassiktage performance titles:

Klänge des Herzens (2015)  

Amore, amore! (2016) 

Nessun Dorma (2017)

La vie de Bohème (2018)