The Finnish lyric baritone Joonas Asikainen began his vocal studies in Savonlinna in 2003. At the moment he is finishing his studies at Sibelius academy under the tutelage of opera singer Irja Aurora. Asikainen has played parts such as Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Papageno in Die Zauberflöte both by Mozart and Gabriel von Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss. Asikainen has done guest performances at Savonlinna opera festival, city theater of Oulu and Vaasa opera. In the summer of 2013 he attended a master class at accademia del belcanto and also performed in festival della valle d’itria.