Alma Kuula

Alma Kuula (née Silventoinen; 1884–1941) was a Finnish operatic soprano and pianist, and the wife of composer Toivo Kuula. Born in Saint Petersburg to Finnish industrialist Pekka Silventoinen and Johanna ('Hanna') née Häggson, and raised mostly in Lappeenranta, Alma Silventoinen graduated from a girls' school in Helsinki in 1901. In 1903, she began studying first the piano, and subsequently voice, at the Helsinki Music Institute (later Sibelius Academy), completing her studies there in 1908. She went on to further her voice training in Milan and Paris from 1908 until her marriage in 1914.