Anu Komsi

Born in Kokkola, Finland, on January 9, 1967, soprano Anu Komsi maintains one of the broadest vocal ranges among Finnish artists, encompassing everything from Baroque scores to cutting-edge jazz experiments. Her twin sister, cellist Piia Komsi, shares the same birthplace. After training in both voice and violin at Helsinki’s Sibelius Academy, she made her first Finnish stage appearance in 1993 and soon secured contracts across domestic and international venues, including several regional German theaters toward the end of the 2000s.

Her operatic commitments have remained steady, anchored by a durable partnership with the Hannover State Opera. For that company she commissioned George Benjamin’s Into the Little Hill and later captured it on disc for Nimbus in 2008. Parallel to these stage engagements, Komsi has served as soloist with orchestras throughout Europe and North America, among them the Berlin Philharmonic, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Ensemble InterContemporain, the London Sinfonietta, the Czech Philharmonic, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Vienna Symphony, the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony Orchestra of London, the New York Philharmonic, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

In her native city she established the West Coast Kokkola Opera and continues to guide its artistic direction. While her concert work spans many eras, her recorded output has concentrated on contemporary repertoire, particularly Finnish composers. The first of numerous projects for the Ondine label appeared in 1996 with György Kurtág’s Kafka Fragments. Several subsequent releases have been devoted to Kaija Saariaho. In 2013 she transferred to the Alba imprint for an album pairing Aarre Merikanto’s Symphony No. 2 with Ekho; four years later she contributed to Reflections of a River Valley: A Portrait of the Composer Erik Fordell. She is married to conductor Sakari Oramo.