Tommi Hakala graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki (1998). He was bestowed the renowned “BBC Singer of the World 2003 in Cardiff Award” and the 1^st prize at the national Merikanto Singing Competition in 2001.

From 1998 to 2001 the young artist performed numerous leading roles in the ensemble of the Nuremberg Opera. His years at the Leipzig Opera 2001-2004 won him increasing renown for such parts as Wolfram, Posa, Germont, Ford, Conte (Le nozze di Figaro), Chorèbe (Les Troyens) and during the engagement at the Finnish National Opera 2008-2013 he expanded his repertoire to include roles such as Amfortas, Kurwenal, Escamillo, Onegin and Renato.

Guest engagements included perfomances at the Metropolitan Opera, New York (Valentin, Schaunard), Staatsoper Dresden (Guglielmo, Ford), Strasbourg (Ford), Copenhagen  (Posa, Wolfram), De Vlaamse Opera (Danilo, Don Giovanni, Onegin), Teatro Real Madrid (Carmina Burana, Szenen aus Goethes Faust), San Francisco & Atlanta (Conte), Savonlinna Opera Festival (Valentin, Silvio, Wolfram and Kullervo), De Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam (Belcore, Macbeth), Essen (Belcore, Macbeth), Budapest (Simon in Rautavaara’s Kaivos), Montpellier (Orest), Geneva (Conte) and Teatro Regio Torino (Simone – Eine florentinische Tragödie, Peter – Hänsel und Gretel).

Tommi Hakala performed in concerts in many European cities as well as in the USA, including Bach: St. Matthew and St. John Passions, Haydn: Die Schöpfung, Orff: Carmina Burana, Mendelssohn: Paulus, Britten: War Requiem, Schumann: Szenen aus Goethes Faust, Mahler: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen & 8th Symphony,  Sibelius: Kullervo Symphony, Zemlinsky: Lyrische Sinfonie, Vaughn Williams: Sea Symphony, Mikko Heiniö, Symphony No. 2, James MacMillan: St.John Passion.

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

His recording of Sibelius’ Kullervo, under the baton of Leif Segerstam with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, was awarded the Diapason d’or in 2008.

Engagements during festivities for Finland’s 100^th anniversary in 2017 included several world premieres, like Keihäitä by Paavo Korpijaakko with the Tampere Philharmonic, Linna Vedessä by Sallinen at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Viktor in Höstsonaten by Sebastian Fagerlund at the Finnish National Opera.

Recent engagements include Amfortas at the Finnish National Opera, Jago and Valentin at the Savonlinna Opera Festival and Ford and Jochanaan at the Teatro Regio Torino, as well as Fidelio (Pizarro) with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Hannu Lintu, Mahler/Symphony No.8 with the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Marc Albrecht and Brahms Ein deutsches Requiem at Teatro Regio Torino under the baton of Pinchas Steinberg.

In 2019 Hakala made his debut as Wotan in Rheingold in the new Ring production at the Finnish National Opera, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen.

Wotan in Die Walküre and Wanderer in Siegfried will follow in the 2022/23 season, as well as Wanderer in a new Siegfried production at the State Opera in Stuttgart.