Reader Submission: Finnish Barihunk Markus Suihkonen

Markus Suihkonen (photos: Vilja Tamminen)

Our latest reader submission is 25-year-old Finnish bass Markus Suihkonen, who someone spotted as The Herald in Bayerische Staatsoper production of Verdi's Otello. The production also features hunkentenor Jonas Kaufmann in the title role, so you know he had to stand out.

There is one more performance on December 21, before it returns in the Summer for additional performances on July 12 and 15, also featuring Suihkonen.

Watch Markus Suihkonen at the 11:50 mark:

Before taking up singing at the Sibelius Academy, Suihkonen studied the cello for 15 years. In 2015, he won the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition and was awarded a scholarship from the Martti Talvela Foundation.    

He made his professional debut at the Finnish National Opera in 2015 in Shostakovich's The Nose. He has performed at the Mariinsky Theater, Savonlinna Opera Festival, Vlaamse Opera and at the Royal Opéra de Wallonie.

He is part of the Young Artist Ensemble at the Vlaamse Opera in Antwerp, Belgium.

He returns to the Bayerische Staatsoper in April as King René in Tchaikovsky's Iolanta and then takes on Publio in Mozart's La Clemenza di Tito at the Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liège.