Press photos-arkiv - Birgit Nilsson

Post published:18 October, 2022

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…

Post published:18 October, 2022

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

Post published:13 October, 2022

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…

Post published:10 October, 2022

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…

Post published:13 August, 2022

Intensive Birgit Nilsson-days with international star line-up

An opera gala presenting over one hundred performers, including international star soloists and guest speaker, Mark Levengood, will be the highlight and finale of this year’s Birgit Nilsson Days. The 13 August concert takes place on a large outdoor stage at the Birgit Nilsson Museum, in the meadow adjacent to Birgit’s family home. Eight soloists will participate, including two young stars who perform for the first time in Scandinavia: soprano Joyce El-Khoury and tenor Jonathan Tetelman. “Joyce El-Khoury is miraculous,…

Post published:17 May, 2022

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…

Post published:20 April, 2022

Cornelia Beskow-Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2022

The 2022 Birgit Nilsson Stipendium is awarded to the Swedish lyric dramatic soprano, Cornelia Beskow, who receives 200.000 SEK (equivalent to $20.000) on August 12 when she will perform in Birgit Nilsson’s parish church at Västra Karup, as a part of the celebrations for this year’s “Birgit Nilsson Days”. Winner of the 2017 Lauritz Melchior International Singing Competition, where she was awarded all four prizes, Cornelia Beskow trained at the Copenhagen Opera Academy (Soloist Class, 2009-2012) and the Stockholm University…

Post published:10 February, 2022

Hillevi Martinpelto – Master Class 2022

Soprano Hillevi Martinpelto debuted at the Royal Opera in Stockholm as Cio Cio San in Madame Butterfly and has since performed on most of the world’s leading opera and concert hall stages, for example in Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Dresden, Leipzig, Salzburg, Vienna, Milan, Florence, Rome, Amsterdam, Brussels, Edinburgh, London (where she participated in 8 Proms at the Royal Albert Hall), Glyndebourne, New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Tokyo and Hong Kong. She has worked with conductors such as Sir John Eliot…

Post published:31 January, 2022

The Artist Birgit Nilsson

Birgit Nilsson (1918-2005) was one of the greatest opera singers of the twentieth century. Her superb voice and supreme stage presence were praised by critics and audiences alike, bringing her international recognition as the world’s leading dramatic soprano and a legendary interpreter of especially Wagner, Strauss and Puccini. Birgit Nilsson made her operatic debut at the Swedish Royal Opera in 1946 and achieved international stardom in the mid 1950’s with her debuts in Vienna, Bayreuth, Buenos Aires, San Francisco and Chicago. She added a…

Post published:9 May, 2021

A museum for all senses

Birgit Nilsson lived on the farm in Svenstad with her parents until she was 23 years old. It was a simple upbringing without electricity or running water and the first amenities were not installed until the 1930s. Birgit helped with all the chores on the farm. She thinned beets, planted potatoes, harvested hay and milked cows. In other words, it was a life far removed from what she would later experience as one of the world’s most famous opera singers.…