The Birgit Nilsson Master Class for singers will be held from 3 to 7 August 2025. The work will culminate in a concert in the Birgit Nilsson hall at Kulturhuset Ravinen on 7 August.

Camilla Tilling will lead the teaching in collaboration with pianist Annika Bjelk and assistant pianist Jacob Lidåkra. Teaching in scenic design will be led by Katarina Sörenson.

An event in collaboration between the Birgit Nilsson Museum, the Birgit Nilsson Foundation and the Birgit Nilsson Society.

Further information about the Birgit Nilsson Festival 2025, such as the program and tickets, can be found here

Participants 2025

We are delighted to present the participants in this year’s Birgit Nilsson Master Class.

Mathilde Hylander, soprano

Mathilde Hylander, soprano from Björnstorp in Skåne, is studying at the bachelor’s program in opera singing at the Stockholm Academy of the Arts. This spring she did her second-year internship in the role of Barbarina in the Royal Swedish Opera’s production of The Marriage of Figaro. Previous studies at Lyric Opera Studio Weimar and sang Pamina in The Magic Flute in the summer of 2024. At Operastudio Kapellsberg she sang Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream the year before.

Viktoria Karlsson, sopran

Viktoria Karlsson, soprano from Trollhättan, graduated from the Malmö Opera Academy master’s program in 2024 after studying at the Bachelor of Arts program in opera at the Academy of Performing Arts in Gothenburg. Singing debut in the fall of 2023 as Zerlina in Don Giovanni at Malmö Opera and sang Monica in the spring of 2023 in Malmö Opera’s tour production of Menotti’s Mediet. Viktoria received the Royal Swedish Academy of Music’s National Scholarship in 2023 and 2024 and John Andersson in the Anderslöv singing scholarship in 2023

Johanna Nylund, sopran

Johanna Nylund, Finnish soprano, educated at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and the Stockholm Academy of the Arts. In the spring of 2025 she sang Pamina in The Magic Flute at the Landestheater Detmold, where she will make her role debut next season as Violetta in La traviata and the title role in Handel’s Alcina. In the summer of 2024 she sang Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and Anna in Nabucco at the Savonlinna Opera Festival. Johanna was awarded the Pro Musica scholarship in 2023 and the Barbro Salén scholarship in 2022 and the Léonie Sonning talent prize.

Minna Tägil, sopran

Minna Tägil, a soprano from Gothenburg, completed her studies at the Mälardalen Academy of Music and Opera in 2024. Since then, she has sung Jano in Jenůfa at the Royal Swedish Opera and Lisetta in La Gazzetta at the Läckö Slottsopera. This spring she sang Papagena in The Magic Flute at the Folkoperan. In the autumn, she will perform the role of Måndottern in the newly written Jordens hjärta at the Royal Swedish Opera. Minna has received scholarships from, among others, the Märta Christina and Magnus Vahlquist Foundation, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music and the Jubelfonden.

Julia Andersson, mezzosopran

Julia Andersson, a mezzo-soprano from Landskrona, is trained at the Schweizer Opernstudio, the Stockholm Academy of Opera and the Gothenburg Academy of Music. This spring she sang the role of Hansson in the premiere of Monday Fish Bun Day at Malmö Opera/Verkstan and this autumn she will sing the role of Hannah after in As One at Piteå Kammaropera. Previously, she has sung the Second Lady in Skånska Opera’s The Magic Flute, Thibault in Don Carlos at Bühnen Bern and Cherubino in The Marriage of Figaro at Wermland Opera.

Ellen Gahm, mezzosopran

Ellen Gahm, a mezzo-soprano from Stockholm, has been studying classical singing at the Royal Academy of Music since last autumn after studying singing at Birkagården Folk High School’s classical music department. During the spring and summer she has been on a concert tour with pianist Axel Åkerman and in May was a soloist at a Bizet concert with the Swedish Children’s Symphony Orchestra. In the summer of 2024 she sang in the opera choir at Opera på Skäret’s production of Bellini’s Norma after being a soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria at Västerledskyrkan in Bromma.

Maria Sveinungsen

Maria Sveinungsen, a Norwegian mezzo-soprano living in Kosta, received a master’s degree in opera singing from Stockholm University of the Arts in 2021 after a bachelor’s degree from the Royal Academy of Music in London. In 2023, she won the Wagner Competition in Gothenburg and became the 2024 Bayreuth Fellow. Last year, she performed the concerto En hyllning till Döderhultarn with the Oskarshamns Kammarmusikförening and was a soloist at the premiere of the mini-opera End of Love Songs with Camerata Nordica at Länsmusiken in Kalmar.