Alfons Almi ( Alm, until 1935; 20 August 1904 — 22 February 1991) was a Finnish opera singer and administrator. He has been described as the 'father of Finnish opera'.

Career

Almi sang the principal

tenor A tenor is a type of male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. Composers typically write music for this voice in the range from the second B below m ...

at the Opera of Finland (later to become the

Finnish National Opera The Finnish National Opera and Ballet (; ) is a Finnish opera company and ballet company based in Helsinki. It is headquartered in the Opera House on the coast of the Töölönlahti bay in Töölö, which opened in 1993, and is state-owned throu ...

) from 1934 to 1952. He later moved into management, first as the Finance Manager from 1952, then progressing to general management, and eventually reaching the post of Director General from 1966 to 1971. He also sat on the company's supervisory council and board of directors from 1940 to 1971. One of his main achievements was the establishment of the National Opera's own in-house orchestra. He also worked tirelessly towards the development of the National Opera's new, purpose-built premises. Finnish National Opera Helsinki 2016 02

The second stage of the new opera house is named after him. Outside of the National Opera, Almi served in administrative and leadership positions at numerous cultural and public organisations.

Awards and honours

In 1966, the honorary title of '' Professori'' was conferred on Laine by President

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

. In 1983, Almi was awarded the annual ''Eskon Puumerkki'' prize by the .

Personal life

Alfons Alm was born to a working-class family in Helsinki. Both his parents had died by the time he was 10, leaving Alm to look after his siblings. Almi studied agriculture and dairy production, and initially worked in management roles in the dairy industry, before following his true

vocation A vocation () is an Work (human activity), occupation to which a person is especially drawn or for which they are suited, trained or qualified. Though now often used in non-religious contexts, the meanings of the term originated in Christianity. ...

and retraining as a singer. Almi served as a junior officer in the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet–Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

meritoriously, and was decorated with multiple medals. He was married twice, first to Aini Lehtinen from 1931 to 1951, and then to the ballet dancer and Artistic Director of the Finnish National Ballet, Doris Laine, from 1952 until his death. He had one child from each of his marriages. His daughter, Heidi, from his second marriage, works in a management role at the National Opera and Ballet, following in her parents' footsteps.

References

External links

Profile of Alfons Almi
on Yle archives (in Finnish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Almi, Alfons Finnish tenors 1904 births 1991 deaths Musicians from Helsinki 20th-century Finnish male opera singers