Tommi Hakala graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki with special distinction 1998. In receiving the renowned “BBC Singer of the World 2003 in Cardiff” award at the International Singing Competition, Finnish baritone Tommi Hakala made an important step towards a truly promising international career. He has received the first Matti Salminen Grant in 1997 and was awarded the 1st prize at the national Merikanto Singing Competition in 2001.

From 1998 to 2001 the young artist performed numerous leading roles in the ensemble of the Nuremberg Opera. His years at the Leipzig Opera 2001-2004 won him increasing renown for such parts as Wolfram, Posa, Germont, Ford, Conte / Le nozze di Figaro, Chorèbe / Les Troyens and during the engagement in the Finnish National Opera 2008-2013 he expanded his repertoire to the roles like Amfortas, Kurwenal, Escamillo, Onegin and Renato.

Guest engagemants have included further perfomances in the Metropolitan Opera, New York (Valentin & Schaunard), Staatsoper Dresden (Guglielmo, Ford), Strasbourg (Ford), Kopenhagen (Posa & Wolfram), De Vlaamse Opera (Danilo, Don Giovanni & Onegin), Teatro Real Madrid (Carmina Burana & Szenen aus Goethes Faust), San Francisco & Atlanta (Conte), Savonlinna Opera Festival (Valentin, Silvio, Wolfram, Jago and Kullervo), De nederlandse Opera Amsterdam (Belcore & Macbeth), Essen (Belcore & Macbeth), Budapest (Simon in Rautavaara’s Kaivos), Montpellier (Orest), Geneve (Conte) and Teatro Regio Torino (Simone / Eine florentinische Tragödie & Peter, Hänsel und Gretel).

Tommi Hakala has given concerts in many European cities as well as in the U.S.A. Further engagements have included Bach: Matthäus Passion, Haydn: Die Schöpfung, Orff: Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn: Paulus, Britten: War Requiem, Schumann: Szenen aus Goethes Faust, Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen & 8th Symphony, Sibelius: Kullervo Symphony, Zemlinsky: Lyrische Sinfonie, Vaughn-Williams: Sea Symphony, James MacMillan: St.John’s Passion to name but a few.

He has worked with conductors like Leif Segerstam, Okko Kamu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Mälkki, Hannu Lintu, John Storgårds, Mikko Franck and like Jesus Lopez-Cobos, Pinchas Steinberg, Michael Schønwandt, Friedemann Layer, Xian Zhang, Kristjan Järvi, Carlo Rizzi, Asher Fish, Jac Van Steen, Jaap Van Zweden, Thomas Hengelbrock, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Colin Davis & Mariss Jansons.

Recently Tommi Hakala sang Athanël, Kurwenal and Orest in the Finnish National Opera, Jago at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Ford in the Teatro Regio Torino.

Engagements during the Finland 100-Year Anniversary 2017 include Psalmus-Symphony by Klami with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Ilmarinen in Die Kalewainen in Pochjola (W.P) by Müller-Berghaus in Turku, Johannes-Passion and Mass in B minor with Cantores Minores in Helsinki, Keihäitä (W.P.) by Paavo Korpijaakko with Tampere Philharmony, Linna Vedessä (W.P.) by Sallinen at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Kullervo by Sibelius & Viktor in Höstsonaten (W.P.) by Sebastian Fagerlund at the Finnish National Opera.

The coming year 2018 brings Fidelio Pizarro in a concert-version with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Salome Jochanaan in the Teatro Regio Torino, Parsifal Amfortas in the Finnish National Opera and The Queen of Spades Count Tomsky in the Savonlinna Opera Festival.

In 2019-21 Hakala deputes as Wotan in Rheingold and Die Walküre, as well as Wanderer in Siegfried in the new Ring-production of the Finnish National Opera, which will be conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.