Markus Nieminen

Ensemble: (Former) Vienna State Opera

Freelancer: Finnish National Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Vienna Volksoper

Bass-baritone Markus Nieminen was a member of the solo ensemble at the Vienna State Opera from 2001 to 2005, where he performed a wide range of roles including Belcore, Silvio, Sprecher, Ping, Melot, and Jonny in Jonny spielt auf. Since 2005, he has worked as a freelance artist, with guest appearances at the Finnish National Opera, Staatsoper Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Vienna Volksoper, Theater Basel, Opera Vlaanderen in Antwerp and Ghent, and Theater St. Gallen.

Mr. Nieminen graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with a Master’s degree in Music and continued his vocal studies under Professor Gerhard Kahry at the Vienna Music Academy.

In recent seasons, he has appeared as Arthur Mannström in Jää, Alfio in Cavalleria rusticana, and Mr. Flint in Billy Buddat the Finnish National Opera, as well as Escamillo in Carmen at Staatstheater Kassel. He has also sung Kurwenal in concert with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra. Other roles in his diverse repertoire include Scarpia, Marcello, Don Giovanni, Figaro (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Guglielmo, Dandini, Sharpless, Jeletski, Il Conte, and the title role in Robin Hood.

As a concert soloist, Mr. Nieminen has collaborated with leading orchestras under conductors such as Marcello Viotti, Gerd Albrecht, Simone Young, Fabio Luisi, Seiji Ozawa, Semjon Bychkov, and Christian Thielemann.

His awards include First Prize at the 1999 Pentti Koskimies Lied Competition, the Vox Unica Prize (2000), Tampere Opera Grand Prix (2001), and First Prize at the Lappeenranta Singing Competition (2006). He received the Eberhard Wächter Medal from the Vienna State Opera in 2002 and the Martti Talvela Scholarship in 2000.