Press Prize

Yo-Yo Ma receives 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize

World famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma is the fifth recipient and first instrumentalist to be awarded the Birgit Nilsson Prize by King Karl XVI Gustav. The ceremony took place on October 18 in a packed Konserthuset Stockholm and was followed via live stream by viewers world-wide. Receiving the Prize, Yo-Yo Ma said “As I leave Sweden tomorrow, I will carry with me these forever memories, the memory of this evening, with such moving performances ... But l will also leave with…

Yo-Yo Ma receives 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize

Yo-Yo Ma – moderated talk

On Tuesday October 18 Birgit Nilsson Stiftelsen held a moderated press talk with this year's Birgit Nilsson Prize Laureate Yo-Yo Ma. Link to audio file Photo: Felicia Margineanu

Yo-Yo Ma – moderated talk

Birgit Nilsson Prize Ceremony streamed live on Konserthuset Play

World-famous cellist Yo-Yo Ma will be awarded the Birgit Nilsson Prize on 18 October at the official ceremony streamed live on Konserthuset Play. The Prize - the world's largest in classical music - will be presented by King Carl XVI Gustav and the evening also features musical performances by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Swedish Radio Choir and Royal Swedish Opera Choir, under the direction of conductor Patrik Ringborg. As supporting and inspiring the next generation of young artists is a priority…

Birgit Nilsson Prize Ceremony streamed live on Konserthuset Play

Yo-Yo Ma meets young Swedish cellists

October 18 cellist Yo-Yo Ma will receive the 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize. On the occasion of his visit to Sweden a group of young cellists from various cultural schools across Sweden have the opportunity to meet the world star. They will also attend the rehearsal and concert at Konserthuset Stockholm where Yo-Yo Ma performs Dvořák's Cello Concerto. "We look forward to welcoming these young talents to a personal meeting with one of the world's foremost artists in classical music", says…

Yo-Yo Ma meets young Swedish cellists

Yo-Yo Ma to receive the 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize

Birgit Nilsson Foundation President, Susanne Rydén, announced today that the 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize will be awarded to cellist, Yo-Yo Ma. At one million US dollars, the Prize is the largest in classical music, awarded to artists and institutions who have contributed an important chapter to music history. Yo-Yo Ma is the first instrumentalist to receive the Prize, which will be presented to him by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf at the Prize Ceremony on October 18 at the…

Yo-Yo Ma to receive the 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize

Birgit Nilsson Stiftelsen to announce the 2022 Prize Recipient

In exactly one year from today, on 17 May 2022, the fifth recipient of the Birgit Nilsson Prize will be announced on Birgit’s birthday. The largest Prize in Classical Music, the 2022 recipient will receive 1 million dollars, which will be presented at a Gala Ceremony held in Stockholm in October of the same year.  As Gramophone Magazine wrote following the Prize Ceremony in 2014: “We live in times when it’s increasingly hard for classical music to get itself discussed…

Birgit Nilsson Stiftelsen to announce the 2022 Prize Recipient

Birgit Nilsson Foundation receives Special Achievement Award at Gramophone Awards for centenary celebration

On October 16, 2019, the world’s leading classical music magazine Gramophone awarded the Birgit Nilsson Foundationwith a Special Achievement Award; an award given to an organisation that has supported the legacy of a great artist with notable imagination and loyalty. Gramophone states in their communication around the Special Achievement Award: “In Birgit Nilsson’s centennial year, the Foundation has not only beautifully celebrated her extraordinary talent and artistry but is now also responsible for introducing Nilsson to a generation who were never able to experience her live.” – We are…

Birgit Nilsson Foundation receives Special Achievement Award at Gramophone Awards for centenary celebration

Nina Stemme, Lyric’s high-powered Elektra, recalls her cosmic trek from the world of Mimi

Superstar soprano, recipient of the Birgit Nilsson Prize, says an early competition she lost proved to be an unexpected gift. By Dennis PolkowBy this point in soprano Nina Stemme’s operatic journey, the high-intensity role of Richard Strauss’ “Elektra” has emerged as a signature piece. Indeed, the Swedish singer and reigning Wagnerian soprano, who currently performs the distraught and vengeful Elektra in her debut with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, all but owns the part. She is the foremost Elektra in the world today,…

Nina Stemme, Lyric’s high-powered Elektra, recalls her cosmic trek from the world of Mimi

Nina Stemme – Birgit Nilsson Prize ceremony 2018

The Swedish dramatic soprano, Nina Stemme, was the fourth recipient of the Birgit Nilsson Prize, awarded in the year which also celebrated the 100th anniversary of Birgit NIlsson’s birth. The Award ceremony took place October11, 2018 at the Royal Swedish Opera in the presence of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and H.M. Queen Silvia. In honour of the occasion, Welsh bass-baritone Sir Bryn Terfel performed scenes from The Flying Dutchman, Die Meistersinger and Falstaff with The Royal Swedish Orchestra under the…

Nina Stemme – Birgit Nilsson Prize ceremony 2018

Birgit Nilsson Prize 2018 to Nina Stemme

Nina Stemme has been announced as the recipient of the 2018 Birgit Nilsson Prize Internationally famous Swedish-born soprano Nina Stemme is in great demand worldwide. She is a frequent guest at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, La Scala in Milan, Wiener Staatsoper, Opera Bastille in Paris and the Royal Opera Houses in London and Stockholm, to name just a few. As a dramatic soprano, Nina Stemme has continued the great tradition of Kirsten Flagstad and Birgit Nilsson. She has…

Birgit Nilsson Prize 2018 to Nina Stemme