ESSI LUTTINEN

Mezzosoprano

Biography

Essi Luttinen is an exceptionally many-sided and expressive young Finnish mezzo-soprano whose voice is widely celebrated for it’s beauty and tone. Her extensive repertoire consists of works from early baroque to contemporary music, and she is a sought-after performer both as a concert singer and a versatile role player in music theatre.

As an artist Essi Luttinen is also ready to break traditional expression and explore the unconventional. In her repertoire there is a large number of first performances of the contemporary music. As the Artistic Director of Opera Skaala, an ensemble that focuses on contemporary opera, Essi Luttinen has taken part in the creation and reinterpretation of totally new innovative concepts of performing and music.

Essi Luttinen has appeared in opera roles in the Finnish National Opera, the Savonlinna Opera Festival and the Bergen National Opera, and the operas of Oulu, Turku, Jyväskylä and Tampere, among others. Examples of her current season’s soloist appearances are with Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta and Hyvinkää Orchestra, and with Korsholm Music Festival and Satasoitto Festival.
Essi Luttinen has received the first prize in Merikanto singing competition in Art Centre Salmela, and the second prize in the Lappeenranta National Song Contest. She has also been give the Karita Mattila Prize, not only for the quality of her voice but also for her exceptional stage charisma.

Essi’s latest significant artistic project is Opera Skaala, an ensemble whose unique concept combines baroque opera and electronic dance music. In 2015 Opera Skaala won third place in Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the music competition that selects Finland’s entries for the Eurovision Song Contest.