Markus Nykänen
Finnish tenor Markus Nykänen began his musical education by singing in the boys’ choir of his hometown, Espoo, near Helsinki, and by studying singing at the Kungsvägen Musikinstitut.
From 2006 to 2012, he worked as an actor and musical singer, making his professional debut at Theater Viirus in Helsinki. He went on to perform at Klockriketeatern, Wasa Teater, and Svenska Teatern in Helsinki. From 2009 to 2012, he was a member of the independent improvisation theatre group Stjärnfall. He made his opera debut in 2011 as Azaël in Debussy’s L’enfant prodigue in Raseborg, Finland. In the summer of 2012, he participated in the world premiere of Marco Taralli’s contemporary opera Nur at the Festival della Valle d’Itria.
Markus Nykänen was a member of Theater Basel’s young artists programme, "OperAvenir", from 2012 to 2014. During this time, he performed roles such as Mengone in Haydn’s Lo speziale (director: Massimo Rocchi), Giudice in Verdi’s Un ballo in maschera (director: Vera Nemirova), Garde in Massenet’s Manon (director: Elmar Goerden), Knusperhexe in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel (director: Ulrike Jühe), Spoletta in Puccini’s Tosca (director: Jette Steckel), Triquet in Tchaikovsky’s Eugen Onegin (director: Corinna von Rath), and Die Sonne in Purcell’s Indian Queen(director: Joachim Schlömer). Additionally, he was a tenor soloist in Calixto Bieito’s production De rerum natura with music by Handel.
Markus had a guest engagement at Theater Basel during the 2014/2015 season, where he performed Cassio in Verdi’s Otello. In the 2015/2016 season, he appeared at the Hamburg State Opera as Iopas in Les Troyens (conducted by Kent Nagano) and as Remendado in Carmen. He also sang one of the leading roles in Indigo, which had its world premiere in January 2016 at the Finnish National Opera. During the 2016/2017 season, Markus returned to Hamburg State Opera as Cassio in Otello and performed Tybalt in Roméo et Juliette as well as Malcolm in Macbeth at Opera Basel.
Markus made his debut as Alfredo in La Traviata and Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly at the Finnish National Opera. In the fall of 2018, he performed the role of Il tenore calmo in the world premiere of Sanatorio Express, an opera by Finnish composer Iiro Rantala, at the Finnish National Opera. During the winter of 2018/2019, he performed Raoul in Phantom of the Opera, Don José in Carmen at Wasa Stadsteater, and Octavio in Giuditta, produced by the opera company Opera BOX.
Markus was seen during the 2019-2021 seasons at the Finnish National Opera as Victorin in Die tote Stadt, Froh in Das Rheingold, and Rodolfo in La Bohème. He also performed as Ferrando in Covid fan tutte and Camille in Die lustige Witwe. Markus made his debut at Aix-en-Provence in the summer of 2021 in Kaija Saariaho’s new world premiere Innocence. The production continued its success in the 2022/2023 season in Helsinki, London, and Amsterdam.
Season 2024/2025 at the Finnish National Opera
Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus
Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites
Vicomte Raoul de Chagny in The Phantom of the Opera
Antti Hanka in The Ostrobotnians by Leevi Madetoja