Biography
Akseli was brought to the stage at a very young age when he was casted to play the main child role in the Mary Poppins musical at the Helsinki City Theatre. A few years before, he had been accepted to the Cantores Minores boys choir. The nine years spent in the choir saw Akseli turning from a high-soprano soloist to a tenor and developing a deep affection to singing and performing not only in a group but also as a soloist. During his high school years at the Sibelius Upper Secondary School he became certain that a career in music was what he wanted.
In 2016 Akseli was admitted to the Sibelius-Academy vocal department, where the professor Petteri Salomaa was named as his teacher. At the Academy Akseli has participated in different masterclasses with baritone Francois LeRoux, baritone Andreas Schmidt and conductor Kurt Kopecky from the Finnish National Opera. He has also worked closely with the conducting department in numerous opera projects, including the roles of Tamino, Don Ottavio and Monostatos in Mozart’s operas.
Akseli spent three years in the respected Savonlinna Opera Festival choir, where he took part of 13 opera productions. He performed his first opera role in Monteverdi’s The Coronation of Poppea int the role of Lucano in August 2017. In 2019 he got the chance to play the lead in Offenbachs Orpheus in the Underworld at the Helsinki Conservatory. In 2020 Akseli played the role of Ferrando in Turundot opera company’s production of Mozarts opera Cosi fan tutte in Joensuu. In the spring of 2020 Akseli finished his bachelor’s degree at the Sibelius-Academy. In November 2020 he participated in the Sibelius-Academy operaclass production of Benjamin Britten’s Albert Herring, in which he played the role of The Mayor.
In the summer of 2021 Akseli reached the final round at the Timo Mustakallio singing competition organised by the Savonlinna Operafestival. In Augustof the same year he sang the role of the brother in Kurt Weill’s opera the Seven Deadly Sins, a production by Rauma Festivo. Later in August of 2021 he sang the role of Jupiter in Semele oratorio by Händel. A coproduction between Vantaa BRQ and Sibelius Summer-Academy.
Akseli made his debut as a soloist at the Ilmajoki Music Festival in Jukka Linkola’s new opera which in the beginning of June 2022.
In the season 2022-2023 Akseli was performing at Turku City Theatre in two different productions. In the musical “Bridges of Madison county” in the role of Michael Johnson and in the opera “The Red line” by Aulis Sallinen in the role of Epra.
In december 2022 Akseli sang his first evangelista in Bachs Christmas Oratorio with FIBO (Finnish Baroque Orchestra).
In march of 2023 Akseli got a one and a half year fixed position as an actor at the Helsinki City Theatre. During the season 2023-2024 Akseli will perform in various musicals and plays.
In august 2024 Akseli started a two year contract as an actor at the Kuopio City Theatre.
Akseli also performs non-classical repertoire, and is an enthusiastic lover of French chanson which he performs with pianist Milan Heiskanen. Akseli has also collaborated with Finnish pop-singer Ilta in her Christmas concert tours from 2017 onward.
Akseli’s studies have been supported by the Selim Eskelin, Sibelius Academy and Jenny and Antti Wihuris foundations.
Performance and production history
Marry Poppins (musical) – the role of Michael Banks, Helsinki City Theatre 2009-2010
Verdi: La Forza Del Destino – choir, Tampere-Talo opera production 2015-2016
Mozart: The Magic Flute (concert version) – the role of Monostatos, Sibelius-Academy 2016
Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir 2016-2017 (Mozart: The Abduction from the Seraglio, Verdi: Rigoletto, Aulis Sallinen: Kullervo)
Monteverdi: The Coronation of Poppaea – the role of Lucano, Orpheus Muses and Opera BOX production 2017
Actor at the Finnish National Opera 2017-2018 (Janaceck: The Cunning Little Vixen, Puccini: Madama Butterfly, Wagner: Parsifal)
Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir 2017-2018 (Tsaikovski: Queen of Spades, Gounod: Faust, Verdi: Otello)
Bernstein: Candide – the roles of Ferone and Vendor and in the ensemble, Savoy Theatre in Helsinki 2018
Offenbach: Orpheus in the Underworld - the role of Orpheus, The Conservatory of Helsinki 2019
Savonlinna Opera Festival Choir 2018-2019 (Verdi: Rigoletto, Mozart: The Abduction from the Seraglio, Rossini: The Barber of Seville)
Mozart: Cosi fan tutte – the role of Ferrando, Turundot opera production at Joensuu Conservatory hall 2020
Suppe: Zehn Mädchen und kein Mann - the role of Agamemnon Paris, a production of Helsingin Työväenopisto 2020
Britten: Albert Herring - the role of Mr. Uppfold, The Mayor, a production of Sibelius Academy Operaclass 2020
Kurt Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins - the role of the brother, a production of Rauma Festivo 2021
Händel: Semele - the role of Jupiter, a production of BRQ Vantaa and Sibelius Summer-Academy 2021
Donizetti: Il Campanello - the role of Spiridione, a production of Sibelius Academy Operaclass 2022
Linkola: Hiljaiset Perivät Maan - the role of Penjaami Turakka, Ilmajoki Musicfestival
Brown: The Bridges of Madison County - the role of Michael Johnson, Turku City Theatre
Bach: Christmas Oratorio - evangelist and tenor soloist, a production of Porvoo konserttiyhdistys
Sallinen: The Red Linen - the role of Epra, a multiproduction with Saaristo opera, Turku Philharmonic and Turku City Theatre