In June 2027, Turku is set to welcome lovers of singing and competitions from Finland and all around the world. Much like sports events, singing competitions attract audiences keen to feel the buzz of the competition and celebrate their favourites.

“Not only will the audience witness tomorrow’s stars getting their big break, they will also get to enjoy the thrill of young singers reaching new heights. The amount of talent, emotion and brilliance we will be seeing in Turku cannot be overstated; the audience will get to be part of some larger-than-life moments,” says Competition Director of the Mirjam Helin Competition Päivi Loponen-Kyrönseppä.

A singer aiming to reach a high international level must commit to years of intensive training and practice. While skill is undeniably a key factor, personality, interpretation, and artistic vision are just as, if not even more important.

The competition’s international jury will comprise top classical singers and influential figures from the world of music. Camilla Nylund, one of Finland’s most sought-after international star singers, has been named chair of the jury. The award-winning soprano performs regularly at some of the world’s top opera houses, including the Vienna State Opera, the Bayerische Staatsoper in Bavaria, New York’s Metropolitan Opera House, La Scala in Milan, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, and the Hamburg State Opera.

“The Mirjam Helin Competition offers young singers the opportunity to perform before an audience and take the next step towards an international career. Preparing for the competition encourages singers to expand their repertoire, practise performing on stage, and refine their technique. Competing requires months of dedicated work, with the jury and the audience fortunate enough to enjoy the fruits of this labour,” says Camilla Nylund.

The Mirjam Helin Competition is one of the most important singing competitions in the world. The competition has been held in Helsinki since 1984, but 2027 will see it move to Turku and Music Centre Fuuga, which is currently under construction. In Turku, the competition is being expanded into a two-week city-wide festival of song, offering plenty of free-of-charge events too, from opera karaoke to masterclasses. The main partner for the event will be the City of Turku. Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Chief Conductor John Storgårds, will perform at the final of the competition at Music Centre Fuuga. 

The Mirjam Helin Competition makes dreams come true 

Many of the talented young musicians who have found success at the Mirjam Helin Competition have later become international stars in the world of singing, including Olaf Bär, Elīna Garanča, René Pape, Kateryna Kasper, Nadine Sierra, Andrea Rost and Julia Lezhneva.

The prizes for the competition are the biggest of any international classical singing competition in the world. The main prize is €60,000, while the other finalists will take home prizes in the range of €10,000–40,000. The total prize money amounts to over €200,000, and in addition to the monetary prizes, the finalists will also be provided with performance contracts and career coaching.

The competition organisers are expecting to receive around 500 applicants from at least 40 countries, with 36 young talented singers selected to compete. The competition rules, repertoire requirements, schedules for applications and the competition, and prizes, have now been published.

The Mirjam Helin Competition is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Mirjam and Hans Helin Fund. Professor Mirjam Helin (1911–2006), a vocal artist and esteemed singing teacher, made a major donation to the Finnish Cultural Foundation with the aim of establishing a world-class classical singing competition in Finland. The Mirjam Helin Competition was held for the first time in 1984.

The X International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition and Festival 5–17 June 2027 

• Preliminary round: 7–9 June 2027 at Sigyn Hall 
• Semifinals: 11–12 June 2027 at Music Centre Fuuga 
• Final: 17 June 2027 at Music Centre Fuuga, with Turku Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Chief Conductor John Storgårds 
• Early bird ticket packages will be available from 16 April 2026, and individual tickets released in October 2026. 

The soloist for the March concert of the Helsinki Seriös series will be the winner of the most recent edition of the Mirjam Helin Competition, mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu, who enthralled the audience with her powerful interpretations. She will be accompanied by pianist Hikaru Kanki. The duo’s programme in Helsinki will feature folk music arrangements by Gothóni alongside works by composers from Wolf to Britten and Ravel. The audience will also be able to enjoy the music of Wang Wei, a Chinese poet, musician and influential figure during the Tang dynasty. 

Helsinki Seriös is a concert series focused on chamber music performed by top Finnish and international musicians. Jingjing Xu’s concert will take place on Sunday 15 March at 18:00 in the concert hall of the Sibelius Academy, located on Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu. Amadeus TV will be streaming the concert live to China, and it will also be broadcast on Yle Radio 1 on 20 March 2026.  

The Mirjam Helin Competition was last held in June 2024. When she entered the competition, Xu did not even dare to dream that she might win, given this was her first international competition and she was also the youngest competitor. The competition’s final, held at Musiikkitalo, marked the first time she had sung as a soloist with a symphony orchestra.  

The Mirjam Helin Competition is known for making dreams come true. Many of the talented young musicians who have found success there have later become international stars of the world of singing, with former prize winners including Olaf Bär, Elīna Garanča, René Pape, Kateryna Kasper, Nadine Sierra, Andrea Rost and Julia Lezhneva. Jingjing Xu’s victory also gave her career a substantial international boost. Recent highlights include the title role in Bregenzer Festspiele’s La Cenerentola in 2025 and a debut as a soloist with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen, in January 2026.  

Later in the spring, Jingjing Xu will be performing as a soloist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Helsinki on 15 May 2026, taking on the role of Hélène in Lili Boulanger’s cantata Faust et Hélène. The concert will also feature Joana Carneiro as guest conductor. 

Jingjing Xu is a Chinese mezzo-soprano born in 1999. She gained her master’s degree from McGill University in Montreal, where she also won the Wirth Vocal Prize in 2023. After her success at the Mirjam Helin Competition, Xu moved from Montreal to Europe, where she was awarded a place at the International Opera Studio of the Berlin State Opera. 

The Mirjam Helin Competition is known as one of the most important classical singing competitions in the world and is funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Mirjam and Hans Helin Fund. Professor Mirjam Helin (1911–2006), a vocal artist and esteemed singing teacher, made a major donation to the Finnish Cultural Foundation, with the aim of facilitating a world-class classical singing competition in Finland. The Mirjam Helin Competition was held for the first time in 1984.  

The Mirjam Helin Competition counts among the most prestigious contests of its kind in the world. Many of the young singers who have found success in the competition have gone on to launch successful careers and reach the top tier of the international music industry. The Finnish Cultural Foundation has increased the frequency of the event to once every three years. 

Until now, the Mirjam Helin Competition has always been held in Helsinki.In June 2027, the event will take place in Turku, bringing festival cheer to the whole city. The preliminary round will take place at Sigyn Hall, while the semi-finals and finals will be held at the newly built Music Centre Fuuga. The main partner of the competition is the City of Turku. The Turku Philharmonic Orchestra will perform in the final under the baton of its chief conductor John Storgårds.

“Turku is blazing the trail as a city that promotes and invests in cultural events. We want to play a part in building an international music programme in Turku. The finalists of the Mirjam Helin Competition are among the top talents of the future, and we want to give them the opportunity to perform in the brand-new Music Centre Fuuga,” says Susanna Pettersson, CEO of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.  

The singing competition aims to attract 500 applicants from across the world, from which around 40 promising singers will be selected to participate. Thousands of people are expected to attend the competition concerts alone, and many times more are expected to attend other events in the city, listen to the performances on the radio and watch them on TV and streaming services. Streaming will reach lovers of vocal classical music and opera around the world. 

The Mirjam Helin Singing Competition will give Turku’s cultural life a new international boost as the event expands beyond concert halls to reach a wider audience in the city and its surrounding areas. Those who enjoy singing can participate in community singing events, and the accompanying programme also includes masterclasses, opera karaoke, and public discussions. In addition to the City of Turku, partners include the Turku and Naantali Music Festivals. 

According to Turku Mayor Piia Elo, the Mirjam Helin Competition will further strengthen Turku’s position as a diverse and international city of culture.  

“Music Hall Fuuga, which is under construction on the banks of the Aura River, boasts excellent acoustics and architecture, providing a unique setting for the competition. What’s more, the vast array of side events means that people can enjoy the cultural experiences throughout the city,” says Elo.  

For a taste of what the Mirjam Helin Competition has to offer, music lovers can attend the concert of the 2024 winner, the captivating mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu, at the Turku Music Festival on 22 August 2025. The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s new initiative, the Mirjam Helin Academy, which offers further training for talented singers, will also launch in Turku. Seven promising singers who are aiming to succeed on the international stage have already been chosen as the Academy’s first students. They will start their first study period in August 2025 at Linnasmäki College. In the future, study periods will be organised in different parts of the country. 

The funding for the Mirjam Helin Competition comes from the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Mirjam and Hans Helin donor fund. Professor Mirjam Helin (1911–2006) was a vocal artist and beloved singing teacher who made a major donation to the Finnish Cultural Foundation with the ambition to make the singing competition the most prestigious in the world.  

The Mirjam Helin Competition

• This long-standing competition will be held for the first time in Turku from 7 to 17 June 2027.  
• A total of approximately €200,000 in cash prizes and scholarships will be awarded. The winner will receive a sum of €60,000, which, as far as we know, is the largest prize of any international classical singing competition. 
• The preliminary round will be held at Sigyn Hall, while the semi-finals will take place in the chamber music hall and the finals in the concert hall of Music Centre Fuuga. Around 40 applicants will be selected to compete in the preliminary round. 
• John Storgårds will conduct the Turku Philharmonic Orchestra in the finals.  
• The side events will be widely spread across Turku and the surrounding area. 

The first singers to take part in the academy have now been selected: Iris Candelaria, Martin Iivarinen, Emma Karsten, Gabriel Kivivuori Sereno, Johannes Pessi, Tuomas Pääkkönen and Marjaana Ritanen.

Two young singers still in school, Faraja Mwamalumbili and Matvei Palola, will participate in a preparatory junior programme.

Applications were welcomed from talented students of classical voice and young professionals in the field in early 2025. The academy did not want to restrict applications too much, for instance by imposing an age limit, as it hoped to include singers from all backgrounds and regions in Finland.

“These ideas were realised in a wonderful way. The number of applicants exceeded our expectations, and the selected singers come from all over Finland”, says Päivi Loponen-Kyrönseppä, who is in charge of the programme at the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

In total, 144 applications were received, and 26 singers participated in the live auditions. The jury consisted of Rosemary Joshua, soprano and director of the Dutch National Opera Studio, Alessandro Misciasci, pianist and choral conductor, Luca Pisaroni, bass-baritone, and Kari Heiskanen, director.

The teachers at the Mirjam Helin Academy will be recruited from the very top of the music profession, and they include opera singers, conductors, directors, musical experts and professionals. The teachers confirmed so far are opera singers Camilla Nylund, Luca Pisaroni and Linda Watson, conductor and pianist Audrey Saint-Gil, psychologist Marjukka Laurola and poet and university lecturer Vesa Haapala.

The Mirjam Helin Academy is funded via the Mirjam and Hans Helin donor fund. The aim of the fund is to support the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition and to award grants to artists and initiatives within the classical-music field. Mirjam Helin (1911–2006) made a significant donation to the Finnish Cultural Foundation. She was a renowned singer and much-loved voice pedagogue with a passion for teaching, a profession in which she continued until she was over 80 years of age.

Concerts for the public in connection with weekend sessions and summer courses

In the Mirjam Helin Academy, teaching will be given in intense weekend sessions and at summer courses to be held across Finland, in collaboration with leading Finnish practitioners in the field.

The first teaching period will be on 14-17 August 2025 in Turku. Other locations for the autumn are Joensuu on 12-14 September and Järvenpää on 13-16 November 2025.

There will also be concerts for the public. After the Turku weekend, the singers will perform on the Espa stage in Helsinki on Monday, 18 August 2025 at 15.

In the autumn of 2025, the Finnish Cultural Foundation is set to launch the Mirjam Helin Academy, an initiative that seeks to provide further education for ambitious young singers and to support them in the formation of their artistic identity. The Mirjam Helin Academy will provide a two-year programme, and teaching will be given in intense weekend sessions and at summer courses to be held across Finland, in collaboration with leading Finnish practitioners in the field.  

When it comes to classical music, Finland is widely known as a small country that punches well above its weight, a country that produces many acclaimed conductors, singers and musicians for the world’s leading orchestras and the stages of the most prestigious opera houses. 

“Finnish musicians already have a very good reputation, but we also need to take some practical steps to foster and nurture exceptional talent. We have decided to make a significant investment in this new educational initiative to help support young singers in their journey towards an international breakthrough,” explains Susanna Pettersson, CEO of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. 

The Mirjam Helin Academy welcomes applications from all talented students of classical voice and young professionals in the field whose aim is to reach the very highest standards of excellence. The application period will commence in January 2025. The selected students will study topics including performance, putting together a programme, vocal technique, and many associated skills required in the music industry. The Finnish Cultural Foundation will cover all the students’ expenses. 

“We do not want to restrict applications too much, for instance by imposing an age limit. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and from all regions of Finland. Attaining the skills and qualities necessary for an international career is possible regardless of one’s background; drive and commitment are far more important factors,” says Pettersson. 

Among the teaching staff at the Mirjam Helin Academy will be one of our most acclaimed international stars, the soprano Camilla Nylund, currently enjoying a busy and successful career at some of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe. 

“A singer’s career is about much more than just singing. You need to be able to construct your day-to-day life around singing. In the throes of a demanding competition, you must be able to find a space where your own voice and experience can shine through. The Mirjam Helin Academy has carefully considered the best ways to support young singers in their growth and development. I can’t wait to find out what kinds of voices we will have the pleasure of working with,” Camilla Nylund explains. 

The teachers at the Mirjam Helin Academy will be recruited from the very top of the music profession, and they include opera singers, conductors, directors, musical experts and professionals. One of the teachers will be the bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, who was one of the judges at the International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in the summer of 2024. 

The Finnish Cultural Foundation continues its support for music

The Finnish Cultural Foundation has long supported and championed the full spectrum of musical life in Finland. One particularly apt example of this is its support for the International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition, one of the most prestigious classical singing competitions in the world. Many of the competition’s prize winners have gone on to have stellar singing careers. The Finnish Cultural Foundation has resolved to invest in the competition even further, and as a result the competition will now be held every three years. 

In October 2024, the Finnish Cultural Foundation announced that it will support the foundation of a new opera laboratory at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet with an endowment of 1.2 million euros. The aim of the laboratory is to create new contemporary opera by facilitating collaboration between a wide array of artists and practitioners, thus simultaneously helping to increase diversity within the opera world. 

As with the International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition, the Mirjam Helin Academy will be funded via the Mirjam and Hans Helin donor fund. The aim of this fund is to support the singing competition, to award grants and bursaries to singing students and to artists and initiatives within the classical-music field more broadly. The fund is named after Mirjam Helin (1911–2006), who made a significant donation to the Finnish Cultural Foundation. She was a renowned singer and much-loved voice pedagogue with a passion for teaching, a profession in which she continued until she was over 80 years of age. 

Mirjam Helin Academy

• A two-year programme for classical singers 
• Weekend sessions and summer courses in different parts of Finland 
• 6-10 participants
•  Application period in January-February 2025 
• The programme starts in August 2025 

Time and place

Thu 2 Feb 2025 at 6 pm at the Kuopio Music Centre Concert Hall

The evening will be a celebration of voices with two finalists of the 2024 International Mirjam Helin Song Competition: Polish soprano Justyna Khil and baritone Aksel Daveyan from Armenia. The soloists bring us stories of love, longing, disappointment and happiness that are larger than everyday life, from operas such as Carmen, The Queen of Spades, La Bohème and The Barber of Seville. The evening ends with the astonishing late romantic Symphony No. 2 by Wilhelm Stenhammar, one of Sweden’s most important composers.

Program

• Pyotr Tchaikovsky: Polonaise from the opera Eugene Onegin
• George Bizet: ”C’est des contrabandiers… Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante” Michaela’s aria from the opera Carmen
• W.A. Mozart: ”E Susanna non vien… Dove sono” Countess Rosina’s aria from the opera Le Nozze di Figaro
• Gioacchino Rossini: “Largo al factotum” Figaro’s aria from the opera The Barber of Seville
• Pyotr Tchaikovsky: “Ya vas lyublyu” Yeletski’s aria from the opera Queen of Spades
• Giacomo Puccini: Mimi and Marcello’s duet from the opera La Bohème
• Wilhelm Stenhammar: Symphony No 2 in g minor Op. 34

Performing

• Kuopio Symphony Orchestra
• Johannes Gustavsson, conductor
• Justyna Khil, soprano
• Aksel Daveyan, baritone

Organ Night and Aria Festival Presents the 2024 International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition Winner:

Jingjing Xu is a Chinese mezzo-soprano born in 1999. She recently graduated with a master’s degree from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in Montreal, where she studied under Annamaria Popescu, Michael McMahon, and Esther Gonthier. In 2022, she made her debut at the age of 22 in the title role of Handel’s Orlando with Opera McGill. In 2023, Xu won the Wirth Vocal Prize. In addition to opera, Xu is passionate about art song. In the summer of 2023, she participated in the Franz-Schubert-Institute. Her recent performances include the alto solo in Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle at a gala concert organized by the Société d’art vocal de Montréal. Xu and Montreal-based pianist Christopher Knopp have been working together as a duo since 2021.

The concert is organized in collaboration with the Mirjam Helin Singing Competition, arranged by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Jingjing Xu, mezzosoprano
Christopher Knopp, piano

Thu 11.7.2024 at 21:00
Espoo Cathedral
Kirkkopuisto 5, 02770 Espoo
Tickets 35 / 30 / 15 €
Available at Lippu.fi | Ticket sales at the door 1.5 hours before the concert

Artistic director of Joroinen Music Festival, Jussi Merikanto has chosen German soprano Kathrin Lorenzen, who finished second in the competition and won YLE’s audience award, as the singer for this concert from among the finalists of the Mirjam Helin singing competition. The concert pianist is Marjaana Merikanto. “Kathrin Lorenzen won the hearts of the listeners right from the start of the competition with her bright performance and artistry. How she lived music and how her personality created something completely new in the world of vocal music,” describes Jussi Merikanto.

The international Mirjam Helin singing competition was held on June 3-12, 2024 in Helsinki for the ninth time. The competition organized by the Finnish Cultural Fund since 1984 has highlighted many future top singers. At the final concert of the Music Hall on 12.6. the orchestra was the Helsinki City Orchestra, conducted by Sir Mark Elder. The winner of the competition was mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu.

The concert will take place in Järvikylä manor. Doors open at 4 p.m.

The concert is carried out in cooperation with the Mirjam Helin Competition organized by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Kathrin Lorenzen, soprano
Marjaana Merikanto, piano

Fri 26.7.2024 at 17:00
Järvikylä Manor
Kartanotie 6, Joroinen
Duration: 2 h / intermission 30 min.
Tickets 40 €, available at Lippu.fi

The winner of the 2024 Mirjam Helin competition is the Chinese mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu, who received a prize of €50,000. The German soprano Kathrin Lorenzen placed second, receiving €40,000, and the South Korean tenor Junho Hwang placed third and received €30,000. The Polish soprano Justyna Khil (4th), the Armenian baritone Aksel Daveyan (5th), and the Croatian soprano Josipa Bilić (6th) also participated in the final, and each of them received €10,000.

“The standard of the competitors has been extremely high, and the audience fantastic. Furthermore, there has been a good spirit among the jury. It has been a great pleasure to be part of the competition,” says jury chair Soile Isokoski.

The €5,000 prize for the best Lied performance went to the German baritone Gabriel Rollinson for his Among the Fuchsias by Harry Burleigh. The €5,000 prize for the best performance of a Finnish song by a singer whose native language is neither Finnish nor Swedish went to the Hungarian soprano Renáta Gebe-Fügi for her interpretation of Minä metsän polkuja kuljen by Erkki Melartin.

The choice of the press jury was the Norwegian soprano Hedvig Haugerud. The press jury consisted of Anne Aavik from Estonia, Kikka Holmberg and Harri Kuusisaari from Finland, and Jürgen Otten and Michael Stallknecht from Germany.

The student jury chose the Chinese mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu as their favourite. The members of the student jury were Liisa Kouvonen from Turku University of Applied Sciences, Tanja Niemelä from the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki, and Tiina Salminen from Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.

The Finnish Broadcasting Company Yle audience favourite award went to Kathrin Lorenzen.

The jury members were bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, pianist Keval Shah, baritone Bo Skovhus, mezzo-soprano Randi Stene, and soprano Dawn Upshaw. The jury was chaired by soprano Soile Isokoski.

You can find the presentations, repertoires and the finale performances of the finalists on our website:

Josipa Bilić
Aksel Daveyan
Junho Hwang
Justyna Khil
Kathrin Lorenzen
Jingjing Xu

The performances will be as follows:

• Josipa Bilić, soprano, Croatia
  J. Haydn: Scena di Berenice
  C. Gounod – Romeo et Juliette: “Amour, ranime mon courage” (Juliette)
• Aksel Daveyan, baritone, Armenia
  G. Bizet – Les pêcheurs de perles: “L’orage s’est calmé…O Nadir, tendre ami” (Zurga)
  P. I. Tšaikovski – Iolanta: “Kto možet” (Robert) 
• Junho Hwang, tenor, South Korea
  J. Massenet – Werther: “Pourquoi me réveiller” (Werther) 
  G. Puccini – La bohème: “Che gelida manina” (Rodolfo) 
• Justyna Khil, soprano, Poland
  G. Puccini – Turandot: “Tu che di gel sei cinta” (Liù) 
  S. Barber – Vanessa: “Do not utter a word, Anatol” (Vanessa) 
• Kathrin Lorenzen, soprano, Germany
  J. Corigliano – The ghosts of Versailles:  ”They are always with me: the unbounded waiting” (Marie Antoinette)
  G. Mahler – Das himmlische Leben (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
• Jingjing Xu, mezzo-soprano, China
  G. Meyerbeer – Les Hugenots: ”Nobles seigneurs, salut!” (Urbain)
  V. Bellini – I Capuleti e i Montecchi: ”Se Romeo t’uccise un figlio” (Romeo)

The singers will be accompanied by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, led by Sir Mark Elder. The event will be hosted by Maria Ylipää.

You can watch the final concert live at 18:30 on Yle Areena or listen to Yle Radio 1. The final will also be broadcast delayed on Yle Teema at 20:00. All times are UTC+02:00.

Purchase your tickets from Ticketmaster or at the door in Musiikkitalo.ä.

Friday 7 June 2024 

11:00 Semifinal 1

• Josipa Bilić, soprano, Croatia
• Marie-Andrée Bouchard-Lesieur, mezzo-soprano, France
• Aksel Daveyan, baritone, Armenia
• Kara Dugan, mezzo-soprano, USA

18:00 Semifinal 2

• Filip Filipović, tenor, Croatia
• Renáta Gebe-Fügi, soprano, Hungary
• Hedvig Haugerud, soprano, Norway
• Junho Hwang, tenor, South Korea

Saturday 8 June 2024

11:00 Semifinal 3

• Justyna Khil, soprano, Poland
• Maciej Kwaśnikowski, tenor, Poland
• Jonghwan Lee, baritone, South Korea
• Logan Lopez Gonzalez, countertenor, Belgium

18:00 Semifinal 4

• Kathrin Lorenzen, soprano, Germany
• Nuri Park, soprano, South Korea
• Gabriel Rollinson, baritone, Germany
• Jingjing Xu, mezzo-soprano, China

In the semifinals, each competitor will sing a song by a Finnish composer, a group of solo songs, and an opera or concert aria. Each competitor will have a maximum of 30 minutes at their disposal.