Erica Back

Erica Back

Finnish-Swedish mezzo-soprano Erica Back is an active performer of opera, oratorio, chamber music and lied. Her repertoire ranges from baroque to new music. She has world premiered works by Finnish composers Lotta wenäkoski, Olli Kortekangas, Kalevi Aho and Eero Hämeenniemi She has worked with conductors such as Phillip Auguin, Michael Güttler, Louis Langrée, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, Kristiina Poska, Ainars Rubikis, Aapo Häkkinen, Christoph Altstaedt, Tomas Djupsjöbacka and Klaus Mäkelä among others. After her operatic debut at the FNO (2nd Lady, The Magic Flute) she has appeared at the FNO in several roles as well as at Confidencen in Stockholm, Tampere Opera, Vaasa Baroque and Savonlinna Opera Festival. Her operatic repertoire includes roles such as Dorabella (W. A. Mozart: Così fan tutte), Cherubino (W. A. Mozart: the Marriage of Figaro), Orlofsky (J. Strauss: Die Fledermaus), Serafina Suomi (O. Kortekangas: Veljeni vartija/My Brother’s Keeper), Siebel (C. Gounod: Faust) and Ruggiero (G. F. Händel: Alcina) to name a few. Since January 2019 Erica is based in Oldenburg in Germany where she is a member of the fixed ensemble at Oldenburgisches Staatstheater. During the season 22/23 she will get to fulfill one of her dreams when she get to sing the role of Octavian in Richard Strauss’ opera The Rosebearer.

Besides opera the art song genre in particular lies close to Erica’s heart. A special interest of hers is to dig for and perform unknown rarities composed by women. Erica has demonstrated her firm grasp of different genres in several national and international competitions. In 2014, she was awarded shared first prize in the Kangasniemi Singing Competition in Finland. Erica's special aptitude for lied interpretation saw her receive the second prize and a special lied recital prize at the 2015 International Sibelius singing competition in Järvenpää, Finland. In 2016, she was awarded shared second prize at the national singing competition in Lappeenranta. In 2017 Erica was awarded tenor Caj Ehrstedt's prize for classical singers under thirty. In the same year she also received a grant and concert prize at the Mozarteum Summer Academy in Salzburg, Austria. In 2020 she received a grant for her artistry from Stina Krook’s foundation.

In spring 2016 Erica graduated from her opera studies (Master of Music) at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under the guidance of mezzo-soprano Monica Groop. Before pursuing her Master studies, Erica achieved her Bachelor degree from the University of Music in Piteå, Sweden, under the guidance of Synnöve Dellqvist and Emma Rönnlund. In addition, she has studied at the Framnäs Folk College (Piteå, Sweden) and Conservatory of Kokkola, Finland. Erica also has a background in playing the French horn.