From childhood, Sirkiä was a multi-instrumentalist: above all a renowned accordionist, but he also played the piano, organ,
double bass, transverse flute, drums and guitar. Eventually, he studied voice at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and made his
tenor debut in 1981 at the Savonlinna Festival, where he would be a regular for many years to come, and the festival's artistic
director from 2002 to 2007.
1983–85 in Kiel, 1985–91 in Dortmund and 1991–96 at the Deutsche Oper am Rhein (Düsseldorf-Duisburg), he
developed from a lyrical tenor to Otello, Parsifal and Tristan. From 1990 to 2006, he was also a member of the Finnish National
Opera in Helsinki. Guest appearances: Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburg, Semperoper Dresden, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Stockholm, Oslo,
Copenhagen, Théâtre de la Monnaie in Brussels, Athens, Venice, Torino, and Bayreuth (debut as Lohengrin in 2000).
He retired from the operatic stage in 2006.
His repertory also included Belmonte, Tamino, Lyonel, Pollione, Edgardo, Ismaele, Alvaro, Riccardo, Manrico, Macduff, Don Carlo,
Radames, Stolzing, Erik, Tannhäuser, Siegmund, José, Canio, Hüon, Narraboth, Bacchus, Vladimir Igorevich,
Florestan, Jeník, Cavaradossi, Calaf, Dick Johnson.
Reference 1: Sirkiä's website; reference 2: Kutsch &
Riemens
