Photo: Mona Salminen
Mari Palo
Mari Palo pursued her vocal studies at the Central Ostrobothnia Conservatory and at the Sibelius Academy with Sirkka Haavisto, Marjut Hannula, and, privately, with Elizabeth Werres. She studied Lieder with Elizabeth Schwarzkopf, Hartmut Höll, Mitsuko Shirai and Ilmo Ranta. She won third prize and the special prize of the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) in the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 1999 and second prize in the Merikanto Competition two years later. Palo has appeared with most of the Finnish orchestras and has given concerts around the world as soloist with orchestra and as a singer of Lieder. She has been a regular guest with the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki since 1999. In addition, she has performed at the Opera in Oslo and Leipzig, in several productions at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, and at La Scala.