Seppo Ruohonen (Opera Singer, Professor, A loving Father)
Tenor Seppo Ruohonen had been singing more than thirty years in the most famous opera houses in the world and continued his career in developing new vocal talents throughout the rest of his life. He had made a successful career as first lyric-dramatic tenor. His repertoire included more than 100 tenor opera roles. He studied in the vocal studio of State Opera Vienna and in the Music University of Vienna, where he made his Master Degree with the best notes.
Seppo Ruohonen made his début in 1973 at the National Opera in Helsinki as Alvaro in Verdi's La forza del destino, after he had previously operated as a choral conductor and music teacher.
He had performed in main Tenor roles for example in Frakfurt am Main, Deutsche Oper Berlin, London Royal Opera House, the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Madrid, Winnipeg, Montreal, Vienna, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tel Aviv, Los Angeles, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stockholm. He had co-worked with conductors as Zubin Mehta, Giuseppe Sinopoli, Michael Gielen, Giuseppe Patane, Neeme Järvi and with the best known Finnish conductors.
He worked as opera professor in Sibelius Academy and was the founder of Lohja tenor festival. The President of Finland honoured Mr. Ruohonen with Pro-Finlandia Medal.