Johanna Kurkela (born 25 April 1985) is a Finnish singer. Her first published work was a duet ''Tahdon tanssia kanssasi'' with Tomi Metsäketo in 2004. Kurkela released her first album ''Hetki hiljaa'' in 2005. She got a lot of publicity in the Finnish Preselection final for the Eurovision Song Contest 2007, presenting the song ''Olet uneni kaunein''. Kurkela ended up sixth in the preselection final. A few weeks later she published her second album ''Marmoritaivas''. She also contributed vocals to two tracks on

Sonata Arctica Sonata Arctica is a Finnish power metal band from the town of Kemi, Finland. Created as a hard rock band named Tricky Beans, they later changed to Tricky Means and finally to Sonata Arctica, when they shifted to power metal. The current lineup c ...

's album ''

The Days of Grays ''The Days of Grays'' is the sixth full-length studio album by Finnish power metal band Sonata Arctica. The album was released in South America on 8 September 2009, on 16 September in Finland, 18 September in Europe and 22 September in North Am ...

''. Her 2010 album '' Hyvästi, Dolores Haze'' has sold over 20,000 copies.

Personal life

Kurkela was born in

Lumijoki Lumijoki is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Neighbouring municipalities are Hailuoto, L ...

. She has been in a relationship with Finnish musician and Nightwish founder and leader

Tuomas Holopainen Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen (born 25 December 1976) is a Finnish songwriter, record producer and musician, best known as one of the founders and the leader, keyboardist and songwriter of symphonic metal band Nightwish. He has stated that hi ...

since 2009; they became engaged in 2014 and married on 28 October 2015.

Musical background

Kurkela has a versatile musical background. She studied the violin for seven years from the age of five, and the classical piano from a few years later. She attended secondary school in Oulu at Madetojan musiikkilukio (an

upper secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

, otherwise known as a gymnasium in other parts of Europe) specializing in music. In addition to singing Kurkela studies in a

university of applied sciences A university of applied sciences (UAS), nowadays much less commonly called a polytechnic university or vocational university, is an institution of higher education and sometimes research that provides vocational education and grants academic de ...

Discography

Albums

;Studio albums ;Compilation albums

Singles

Collaborative works

*2004: ''Tomi Metsäketo – Tummaa samettia: Tahdon tanssia kanssasi'' (duet) *2005: ''Tilkkutäkki 1: Hiljainen kaupunki'' *2006: ''Tilkkutäkki 2: Kuule minun ääneni'' *2007: ''Tilkkutäkki 3: Elämä on nyt'' *2009: ''

–

'' (vocals on "Deathaura" and "No Dream Can Heal a Broken Heart") *2009: ''

Vesa-Matti Loiri Vesa-Matti "Vesku" Loiri (4 January 1945 – 10 August 2022) was a Finnish actor, musician and comedian, best known for his role as Uuno Turhapuro, whom he portrayed in a total of 20 movies between the years 1973 and 2004. According to Yle Ne ...

– Hyvää puuta'' *2009: ''Club for Five – You're The Voice: Nothing Else Matters'' *2014: ''

Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge ''Music Inspired by the Life and Times of Scrooge'' is the first solo album by Finnish songwriter and keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen, best known for his work in the symphonic metal band Nightwish. It was based on cartoonist Don Rosa's ''The Life a ...

'' (vocals) *2018: '' Auri'' – '' Auri'' (vocals) *2018: ''Korsukylä'' – Every Green in May & Johanna Kurkela (vocals) *2020: '' Nightwish'' – '' Human. :II: Nature.'' (spoken words on "Shoemaker") *2020: ''Altamullan Road'' – Altamullan Road (vocals & composition) *2021: '' Auri'' – ''II – Those We Don't Speak Of'' *2022: ''Vita Nova'' (vocals)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurkela, Johanna 1985 births Living people People from Lumijoki 21st-century Finnish women singers Warner Music Group artists Auri (band) members Finnish pop singers