Markus Nieminen

Bass-Baritone Markus Nieminen graduated from the Sibelius Academy, Finland, with a Master ́s degree in Music, after which he continued his studies with Professor Gerhard Kahry at the Vienna Music Academy.
2001-2005 Markus was a member of the solo ensemble at the Vienna State Opera. There he sang Belcore, Silvio, Sprecher, Ping, Melot, Jonny(Jonny spielt auf) among others.
Performing as a freelancer since 2005, Markus has sung a wide range of roles at Finnish National Opera (FNO), Helsinki including Sharpless, Jeletski, Il Conte, Dandini, Papageno, Guglielmo and the title role of Robin Hood. He as also made quest appearances at State Opera Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Vienna Volksoper, Basel, Gent, Antwerpen, St.Gallen.
The most recent and upcoming engagements are Arthur Mannström(Jää) at FNO, Escamillio at Kassel Opera, Alfio(Cavalleria) at FNO, Mr Flint(Billy Budd) at FNO. Kurwenal with Helsinki Filharmonics (Concert)
Markus ́operatic repertoire is expansive and diverse, with roles such as Scarpia, Marcello, Barbiere, Don Giovanni and Achilles(Penthesilea).
He has been fortunate enough to perform as a soloist with an array of orchestras lead by conductors such as Marcello Viotti, Gerd Albrecht, Simone Young, Fabio Luisi, Seiji Ozawa, Semjon Byshkow and Christian Thielemann.
Nieminen has been awarded 1st prize 1999 Pentti Koskimies Lied competition, Vox Unica 2000, Tampere Opera Grand Prix 2001, Lappeenranta Singing Competition 2006.
The prestigious Eberhard Wächter medal was awarded to him by Vienna State Opera 2002 and in 2000 he was given the Martti Talvela Scholarship.