Biography
Niki Main is a countertenor, composer, and poet based in Finland and the US. They are currently pursuing their master’s degree at the Sibelius Academy where they study composition with Veli-Matti Puumala and Riikka Talvitie and singing with Ulla Raiskio. Recent composing projects include premieres with the Ostrobothnian and Avanti! Chamber Orchestras, FRONT International Triennial, Musaics of the Bay, NYKY Ensemble, and as composer-performer at Musica Nova Helsinki 2023 as well as in collaboration with EMO Ensemble. Additionally in 2024, they have worked as an arranger with Katarina Barruk and the Lapish Chamber Orchestra and as a poet in residency at Tekstin talo hosted by UrbanApa. They have written two chamber operas; It Takes a Child’s Imagination was premiered at Musiikkitalo, Helsinki in June 2024 and made Niki’s debut of combining in a single project their triple threat artistry as composer, performer, and writer. They are now working to expand their second chamber opera, 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which was performed as a demo in April, 2025 starring themself in the role of Ayrton Senna. Other recent performances include premiering an adaptation from Riikka Talvitie’s radio opera, Queen of the Cold Land, for countertenor and orchestra, John Cage’s Songbooks at Viitasaaren Musiikin Aika directed by Joan La Barbara, and the roles of Honour in Purcell’s King Arthur and Liberto, Lucano, Littore, and 2nd Famigliare in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea with the Sibelius Academy Opera and Vistole in Francesca Caccini’s La liberazione di Ruggiero with the Iceland University of the Arts. From November 2024 until August 2025, their Correspondence Song is playing as part of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s Making Home exhibition, commissioned by artist and biohacker, Heather Dewey-Hagborg.
Niki is bookable as a singer, composer, poet, actor, music arranger, and model.
Updated October 25, 2024