Read more about the article The Artist Birgit Nilsson

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…

The Artist Birgit Nilsson
Read more about the article Birgit Nilsson Stiftelsen to announce the 2022 Prize Recipient

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
Read more about the article A museum for all senses

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.…

A museum for all senses
Read more about the article Johanna Wallroth – Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2021

Johanna Wallroth – Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2021

This year’s recipient of the Birgit Nilsson Stipendium is Soprano Johanna Wallroth. She receives SEK 200 000 which, thanks to an anonymous donor, has recently doubled in value, making it one of Sweden’s largest scholarships. Johanna Wallroth was thrust into the limelight in 2019 when she took First Prize in the prestigious Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition with her “immediately engaging, intelligent and detailed performance” (Bachtrack). She subsequently joined the Opernstudio of the Wiener Staatsoper from the start of the 20/21 season…

Johanna Wallroth – Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2021
Read more about the article Miah Persson – Master Class 2021

Miah Persson – Master Class 2021

Internationally active Swedish soprano Miah Persson, grew up in Hudiksvall and now lives in England. After her education at the Stockholm Academy of Opera, she made her debut as Susanna in Mozart's Figaro's wedding in 1998 and has since been a sought-after guest on the world's opera and concert hall stages. In 2011, Miah Persson was appointed court singer. About this year's assignment, Miah Persson says: “It is with great anticipation that I look forward to leading this year's master…

Miah Persson – Master Class 2021
Read more about the article Emma Sventelius – Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2020

Emma Sventelius – Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2020

The 2020 Birgit Nilsson Stipendium is awarded to 30 year old Swedish Mezzo-Soprano, Emma Sventelius who receives 200.000 SEK on August 7 in Västra Karup, Skåne, when she will perform in recital as a part of the celebrations for this year’s Birgit Nilsson Days, hosted by the Birgit Nilsson Museum.  Like Birgit Nilsson herself, this year’s Scholarship recipient could claim “I sang before I could walk; I even sang in my dreams”. Emma Sventelius was singing in her local church choir in Skåne at the age…

Emma Sventelius – Birgit Nilsson Stipendium 2020

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