Pihla Terttunen

Biography

Finnish mezzo-soprano Pihla Terttunen joined the soloist ensemble at Theater Vorpommern in the autumn of 2018. She has built up a broad repertoire there, including the title roles in Rossini’s La Cenerentola, Gluck’s Orfeo, Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas, K?enek’s Jonny spielt auf and Hartmann’s Simplicius Simplicissimus, roles of Idamante Idomeneo, Ruggiero Alcina, Orlovsky Die Fledermaus, 3.Dame Die Zauberflöte, Hermia A midsummer night’s dream, Hattie Kiss me Kate, Bejlja Wir gratulieren!, Irma Meine Schwester und ich, Prinzessin/ Räubermädchen Schneekönigin, Inez Il Trovatore, Vokuhila in Offenbach’s Vent du soir and Mina Murray in Wildhorn’s musical Dracula. Her new roles this season are Cherubino Le nozze di Figaro, Maddalena Rigoletto and Isabelle Eberhardt in the German premiere of Missy Mazzoli’s opera Song from the Uproar: The lives and deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt.

In 2022 she made her house debut at Staatsoper Stuttgart as Messagiera/Speranza in Monteverdi’s Orfeo. She has appeared as Orlovsky Die Fledermaus at Theater Kiel and as Marcellina Le nozze di Figaro at Nationaltheater Weimar. Since 2022 she performs as a regular guest at the Finnish National Opera, as 2.Dame in Barrie Kosky’s production of Die Zauberflöte, in the production CircOpera 2.0. and as Orlovsky Die Fledermaus.

After her Bachelor study at the Metropolia University of Applied Sciences in Helsinki, Pihla Terttunen continued with a Master study in Stockholm, at the University College of Opera. In student productions she sang a.o. Olga Eugene Onegin and Poulenc’s mono-opera La voix humaine. She won 2^nd Prize at the Timo Mustakallio Competition 2013 in Finland and 2^nd Prize at the Grandi Voci Competition 2016. She made her role debut in the title role of La Cenerentola at Theater Rudolstadt and sang Hänsel Hänsel und Gretel with the Sibelius Academy opera studio in Helsinki.

In the 2017/2018 season she was a member of the Thüringen Opera Studio and sang 3. Dame Die Zauberflöte, Marcellina Le Nozze di Figaro, 2^nd witch Dido and Aeneas, Paquette Candide with Nationaltheater Weimar as well as Merope/ Sphinx in Enescu’s Oedipe and Giovanna Rigoletto in Gera. Her concert performances have included the alto solos in Händel’s Messiah, Mozart’s Requiem and Missa brevis, Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony, Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s Mass in B minor as well as Mahler’s Rückert-Lieder.