Matti Salminen, bass, born in 1945 in Turku, Finland. He began as a member of the chorus at the Finnish National opera in 1966 and became a soloist in 1969. In 1972 he became the first bass at the Cologne Opera House in Germany, where he stayed until 1980. Salminen has sung frequently in many great venues of the opera world, among them the Deutsche Oper in Berlin and the Metropolitan in New York. His memoirs, 'The King Bass', were published in 1994. Matti Salminen has two Grammy awards.