BIOGRAPHY

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Sam Taskinen is a Finnish bass-baritone based in Berlin, Germany. Being equally comfortable in playing male and female characters on stage, she will, in the next season, sing her firsts Scarpia, Duc de Vérone, Schaunard and Guglielmo Cecil, as well as creating the roles of Tooth Fairy (Mouthpiece by Webb) and Miss Blood (Emerge: Oops... Life! by Hyytiäinen) in their world premieres in Helsinki.

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In the 2026/27 season, Sam will sing her first Scarpia in Tosca, in a semi-staged version in Lohja, Finland with industry legends. She will make her house debut at the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie, as Duc de Vérone in Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, and make role debuts as Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème and Guglielmo Cecil in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, both at the Finnish National Opera. Also during this season, she will create the roles of Tooth Fairy in Webb’s Mouthpiece and Miss Blood in Hyytiäinen’s Emerge: Oops... Life!, in their world premieres in Helsinki. 

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Her recent engagements include Orest in Strauss’ Elektra at the Finnish National Opera, La Voz de un Payador in Piazzolla’s María de Buenos Aires, at the Opéra-théâtre de Metz, Filippo in Verdi’s Don Carlo, at the OperaFuerteventura, Fasolt in Wagner’s Das Rheingold at the Theater Erfurt, and Marius Wegener in the world premiere of Tobias Picker’s Lili Elbe at the Theater St. Gallen.

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From 2021 to 2023, she was a permanent ensemble member at Staatstheater Kassel, performing roles including Kaspar and Kuno (Der Freischütz), Fra Melitone (La Forza del Destino), Crespel and Luther (Les Contes d’Hoffmann), and Angelotti (Tosca). She previously sang with Theater St. Gallen, appearing as Quasimodo (Notre Dame), Capitàn (Florencia en el Amazonas), Achilla (Giulio Cesare in Egitto), and Armelinde (Cendrillon), among others. 

Ms. Taskinen received her formal training at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Sirkka Parviainen and Jorma Elorinne, and has pursued additional private studies with Kamal Khan. She made her soloist debut at the Finnish National Opera and has worked with several Finnish orchestras early in her career.

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Earlier in her career, she was a studio member at the Komische Oper Berlin, where she sang roles such as Masetto (Don Giovanni), Colline (La Bohème), and Krishna (Satyagraha). She has also performed at the Edinburgh International Festival and Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival.

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Ms. Taskinen is active in concert repertoire, having appeared with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta, and Händelfestspielorchester Halle, among others. She has performed a wide Lied repertoire and premiered Mari Sainio’s monologue opera The Raven, released on Pilfink Records in 2022.

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She was awarded third prize at the Klaudia Taev International Opera Competition in 2019 and was a semifinalist in the 2017 Belvedere Competition.