Mika Pohjonen - CV in english

Mika Pohjonen, tenor - A native of Finland, was born in 1973.

He initially studied singing at the Lahti Conservatory as a student of Terttu Isosaari and later with opera singer Kalevi Koskinen.

In years 1998-2002 his vocal teacher was opera singer Kai Valtonen and since 2003 he has studied under professor Irina Gavrilovici.

In 2003 he won the Kangasniemi singing competition and got third prize in the renowned Finnish singing contest of Lappeenranta and was a semi-finalist at the Competizione dell’Opera in Dresden.

After his engagement as a first tenor in the choir of the Finnish National Opera since 1998, Mr. Pohjonen has been engaged as a permanent soloist in Finnish National Opera since 2003.

Mika Pohjonen has had several  engagements in Opera Houses in the Europe and he has been singing as a tenor soloist with  various  Symphony Orchestras all over the world.

Opera Repertoire

• Radames (Aida)
• Calaf (Turandot)
• Canio, (Pagliacci)
• Dick Johnson (La Fanciulla del West)  
• Don Carlos ( Don Carlos)
• Herman (Pikovaja Dama)                               
• Vasili Golitsin (Khovanshtshina) 
• Grigori/Dimitri (Boris Godunov)  
• Prince (Rusalka )                   
• Italian singer (Rosenkavalier)
• Pinkerton (Madame Butterfly)            
• Rodolfo (La Boheme)                                     
• Des Grieaux (Manon Lescaut)                                   
• Duca (Rigoletto)         
• Ruggero ( La Rondine)                                   
  
• Alfredo (La Traviata)                   
• Matteo(Arabella)                                                        
• Florestan (Fidelio)                                          
• Gisborne (Robin Hood)
• Knight of Cornwall (King Lear)
• Salttu (The Ostrobothnians)                           
• Juhana (The Last Temptations) 

Concert Repertoire

• Mahler: Sinfonia No. 8
• Mahler: Das lied von der Erde
• Verdi: Requiem                                                                                   
• Mozart: Requiem
• Dvorak: Stabat Mater                                                                       
• Beethoven: Symphony No. 9
• Beethoven: Christ on the Mount of Olives                              
• Puccini: Messa di Gloria
• Rahmaninov: The Bells op. 35                                                      
• Bach:St. Matthew Passio
• Honegger: Jeanne d’Arc (Porcus)
• Berlioz: Les Troyens (Aeneas)
• Stravinsky: Les Noces (tenor part; sang on the stage by heart)

 Guest appearances:

Beethoven: Symphony No. 8/ NHK Symphony Orchestra Tokio/NHK-Hall/Vladimir Ashkenazy/Tokio; Japan

Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Des Grieaux)/The Royal Opera Stockholm/Stockholm; Sweden

Puccini: Turandot (Calaf)/Malmö Opera/Malmö; Sweden

Puccini: Madame Butterfly orig. 1905 version (Pinkerton)/Volksoper/Marc Piollet/Wien; Austria

Mahler: Symphony No. 8/The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Berwaldhall/Esa-Pekka Salonen/Tukholma; Sweden

Mahler: Symphony No.8/Orchestra National de España/Joseph Pons/Madrid; Spain

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde/Orquesta Pablo Sarasate/Ernest Martinez Izquierdo/Pamplona; Spain

Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde/Orquestra Simfonica de Barcelona i Nacional de Catalunya/Ernest Martinez Izquierdo/Barcelona; Spain

Puccini: Madame Butterfly (Pinkerton)/Symphony Orchestra Wuppertal/Toshiyuki Kamioka/Wuppertal; Germany

Puccini: Messa di Gloria/Aalborg Symphony Orchestra/Ari Rasilainen; Dennmark

Arthur Honegger: Jeanne d’Arc (Porcus)/Staatstheater Wiesbaden/Marc Piollet/Wiesbaden; Germany

Rahmaninov: The Bells op. 35/Staatspfilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz/Ari Rasilainen; Germany

Berlioz: Les Troyens (Aeneas)/RSO/Finlandia-Hall/Thomas Ades; Finland

Dvorak: Stabat Mater/Turku Philharmonic Orchestra/Turku Cathedral/Tibor Boganyin/Turku; Finland

Dvorak: Stabat Mater / Tampere Philharmonic / Tampere Hall / Rumon Gamba / Tampere; Finland

Verdi: Requiem/Finnish National Opera Orchestra/Johanneksen kirkko/Mikko Franck and 2014 Michael Guttler / Helsinki; Finland

Verdi: Requiem/Turku Philharmonic Orchestra/Turku Concert Hall/Petri Sakari/Turku; Finland

Mozart: Requiem/City Orchestra Seinäjoki/Ollitapio Lehtinen/Seinäjoki and Alavus; Finland

Beethoven: Christ on the Mount of Olives (Christus am Oelberge)/Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra/Tampere Hall/ Eri Klas/Tampere; Finland

Bach:St. Matthew Passio/City Orchestra Hyvinkää/Hyvinkää Church/Matti Heroja/Hyvinkää; Finland

Kokkonen: The Last Temptation  (Juhana)/Aholansaari/Pertti Pekkanen/Nilsiä; Finland

Strauss: Fledermaus (Alfred)/Mikkeli Theatre/Atso Almila, Mikkeli; Finland 

As a concert soloist in Finland, Mr. Pohjonen has appeared with the

• Finnish National Opera Orchestra
• Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra
• Finnish Radio Sinfonia Orchestra (RSO)
• Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra
• Turku Philharmonic Orchestra
• Lahti Symphony Orchestra
• Oulu Symphony Orchestra
• Jyväskylä Symphony Orchestra
• Joensuu, Kuopio, Lohja, Lappeenranta, Seinäjoki and Vaasa City Orchestras
• Pori Sinfonietta
• Kymi  Sinfonietta

He has given numerous recitals around Finland with repertoire such as solo songs by Oskar Merikanto, the most popular Italian tenor songs,  spiritual church hymns and Christmas carols.