He studied singing at the Savonlinna Music College, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and in Frankfurt am Main. In 1982, after winning the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition in Savonlinna, he was engaged as a soloist by the Krefeld-Mönchengladbach Opera. Three years later he was appointed solo tenor at the Baden State Opera in Karlsruhe.
Since 1988, Jorma Silvasti has been a freelance artist making regular appearances on the opera stages of Europe (Vienna, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Essen etc.) and has made guest appearances with companies such as the Finnish National Opera, appearing in operas such as Donizetti's L'Elisir d'amore, Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Mozart's Così fan tutte, Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin and Verdi's La Traviata. In 1992, he made his US debut in Los Angeles singing Kimmo in Aulis Sallinen's opera Kullervo. In 1996, he made his debut with the New Israeli Opera in Tel Aviv.
For many years now Jorma Silvasti has been visiting the Savonlinna Opera Festival and has sung the roles of Tamino (The Magic Flute), Jeník (The Bartered Bride) and the Steersman (The Flying Dutchman). He sang the leading role in the premiere of Paavo Heininen's opera The Knife. He sang the role of Petruccio in the premiere of Aulis Sallinen's The Palace. He was named "Artist of the Year" in Savonlinna after singing the roles of Tamino and Walther (Tannhäuser).
Recent and upcoming events include Adolar in Weber’s Euryanthe in Amsterdam and Strasbourg, Loge in Das Rheingold at Berlin’s Deutsche Oper, Erik in Der Fliegende Holländer at Berlin’s Deutsche Staatsoper, Edmund in the world premiere of Sallinen’s King Lear and the title role of Peter Grimes in Helsinki, Tamino in Die Zauberflöte in Toulouse, and Laca in Jenùfa at Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera and in Toulouse as well as Erik and Loge at the Bayreuth Festival, Erik at the Hamburg State Opera, Max in Der Freischütz at the New Israeli Opera and Paris’s Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, the title roles of Idomeneo and Parsifal in Brussels, and Jeník in The Bartered Bride at Covent Garden.