Finnish baritone Tommi Hakala studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and in Karlsruhe. Following permanent engagements in Nuremberg (1998–2001) and Leipzig (2001–2004), he was a regular guest at the Finnish National Opera and the Savonlinna Opera Festival. In 2003 he won the BBC Singer of the World Competition and was a member of the ensemble of the Finnish National Opera from 2008 to 2013.

Since then, he has given numerous concerts throughout Europe and the United States and made highly successful debuts in Le nozze di Figaro in San Francisco and Faust at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In December 2008, Tommi Hakala returned to the Metropolitan Opera in La bohème, and in 2009 he sang his first Belcore to great acclaim at De Nederlandse Opera in Amsterdam. This was followed by appearances as Amfortas, Gunther, and Kurwenal, as well as Renato, Escamillo, and Orest in Helsinki; Rodrigo and Wolfram in Copenhagen; Die tote Stadt (Frank & Fritz) in Bilbao; Elektra (Orest) in Montpellier; Macbeth in Essen and Amsterdam; Kullervo (Salonen) in Savonlinna; Rodrigo and Nabucco in Tampere; Simon (Rautavaara: Kaivos) in Budapest; and Eine florentinische Tragödie (Simone), Hänsel und Gretel (Peter), and Falstaff (Ford) at the Teatro Regio Torino.

Highlights of the 2025/26 season include his participation as Egil in the world premiere of Morgonstjärnan – The Morning Star – by Sebastian Fagerlund at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. There he will also sing the role of the Father (Broom Maker) in Hänsel und Gretel. At the May Festival of the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, he will additionally appear as Kurwenal in a new production of Tristan und Isolde.

In recent years, Tommi Hakala has appeared, among others, as Amfortas (Parsifal) at the Finnish National Opera, as Iago in Verdi’s Otello and as Valentin in Gounod’s Faust at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, as well as Jochanaan at the Teatro Regio Torino. He has also sung Pizarro (Fidelio) with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and performed Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra under Marc Albrecht, as well as Brahms’ A German Requiem at the Teatro Regio Torino under Pinchas Steinberg.

In 2019, he made a highly successful debut as Wotan in Das Rheingold at the Finnish National Opera, followed in 2022/23 by Wotan in Die Walküre; in the same season he also sang the Wanderer in Siegfried at the Stuttgart State Opera. During the 2024/25 season, his roles included Wotan in Wagner’s Die Walküre with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra under Simone Young, his Dutchman at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden and in a new production in St. Margarethen, his role debut as Baron Scarpia in Puccini’s Tosca at the Opéra de Limoges, and a return as Jochanaan in Salome at the Teatro Massimo in Palermo.

He has worked with many outstanding conductors, including Leif Segerstam, Okko Kamu, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä, Sakari Oramo, Susanna Mälkki, Hannu Lintu, John Storgårds, Mikko Franck, Jesús López-Cobos, Pinchas Steinberg, Michael Schønwandt, Friedemann Layer, Gianandrea Noseda, Carlo Rizzi, Asher Fisch, Xian Zhang, Kristjan Järvi, Jac van Steen, Jaap van Zweden, Marc Albrecht, Sir Simon Rattle, Sir Mark Elder, Sir Colin Davis, and Mariss Jansons.

The recording of Sibelius’ Kullervo conducted by Leif Segerstam with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra was awarded the Diapason d’Or in 2008.

During the celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of Finland in 2017, Tommi Hakala took part in several world premieres, including Keihäitä by Paavo Korpijaakko with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Linna vedessä by Aulis Sallinen in Savonlinna, and Höstsonaten by Sebastian Fagerlund in Helsinki.