Silja Aalto’s lyric-dramatic soprano, distinguished by its warmth and richness of tone, has captivated audiences both in Finland and abroad.
Recent milestones include her role debut as Senta in Der fliegende Holländer at the Rouen Opera in France, her debut as Madama Butterfly at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, a performance of Sibelius’s Luonnotar at the Finnish National Opera, and a European tour as the First Lady in Die Zauberflöte with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
In October 2026, she returns to the Finnish National Opera as the Countess in Le nozze di Figaro. In 2027, she will make her role debut as Salome at the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.
Highlights of the previous season include her role debuts as Elisabetta di Valois in Don Carlo at the Finnish National Opera and as Riitta in The Last Temptations (*Viimeiset kiusaukset*) with Tampere Opera and at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. She also appeared as the soloist in Kaija Saariaho’s Mirage at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall with the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sakari Oramo, receiving outstanding critical acclaim. Other concert highlights included Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Vanemuine Symphony Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse under the baton of Tarmo Peltokoski.
Aalto has also appeared frequently with the Estonian National Opera, where her roles have included Countess Almaviva (*Le nozze di Figaro*), Mimì (*La Bohème*), Leonora (*Il Trovatore*), and Elsa (*Lohengrin*). Her operatic repertoire further includes Leonore (*Fidelio*), Sieglinde (*Die Walküre*), Mrs. Alice Ford (*Falstaff*), Helena (*A Midsummer Night’s Dream*), and Minna in Einojuhani Rautavaara’s The Gift of the Magi (*Tietäjien lahja*).
Following her success in international singing competitions, Aalto has performed extensively at festivals throughout Europe. She studied under Eeva-Liisa Saarinen at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, graduating in 2018.
