Helin Competition winner – from China via Canada to Italy and Germany
9 May 2025
Text and photograph: Kikka Holmberg
Jingjing Xu, who won the international Mirjam Helin Singing Competition in June 2024, movedfrom Montreal to Florence, Italy, with her pianist partner Christopher Knopp last autumn.
“Winning the Mirjam Helin Competition helped us to realise our dream of moving to Europe in a very concrete way,” says Jingjing Xu. In Florence, Jingjing participated in Teatro Maggio Musicale’s programme for young artists.
“I also continue to study with my long-time Canadian singing teacher Annamaria Popescu.”
In August this year, the mezzo-soprano will delight the audience of the Bregenz Festival by playing the title role in Gioachino Rossini’s La Cenerentola (Cinderella).
“A few days after the Mirjam Helin Competition, I was approached by Lilli Paasikivi, the Artistic Director of the Bregenz Festival, who asked if I would like to play Angelina in the Bregenz programme for talented young singers. I was beyond excited because I suddenly had a gig,” Jingjing laughs.
“Cenerentola will be only my second opera performance, and to be able to play the role of Angelina is both a great challenge and a dream come true.”
In early March, a five-day masterclass for the Cinderella opera was held in Bregenz, taught by Lilli Paasikivi and Jaakko Kortekangas.
“It was a privilege to work with Lilli Paasikivi, who has a great deal of experience playing Angelina. I found it inspiring to focus on the recitatives and the last aria with her, and it helped me understand the character more deeply.”
“The time I spent at the masterclass and with the other performers was invaluable. I can’t wait to spend almost the whole summer with these fabulous singers.”
Jingjing also praises the collaboration with Conductor Kaapo Ijas and rehearsal pianist Hana Lee, with whom the singers explored Rossini’s musical style and the Italian language.
“The time I spent at the masterclass and with the other performers was invaluable. I can’t wait to spend almost the whole summer with these fabulous singers.”
There will be four performances of La Cenerentola at the Bregenz Festival in August 2025. The premiere is on the 12th of August.
In September this year, Jingjing will enter a new phase in life when she moves to Berlin for two years to study at the International Opera Studio of the Staatsoper Unter den Linden.
“It’s the perfect place for me because I don’t have much experience performing opera. Also, the opera house is the perfect size. Already at the audition, I felt comfortable there, as the acoustics are so singer-friendly.”
In the coming season, Jingjing Xu will appear at the Berlin State Opera in Dido and Aeneas (as the second woman), Don Giovanni (as Zerlina) and Die Schweigesame Frau (as Carlotta).
“The Opera Studio means a lot of work and study at the same time. The programme also includes singing lessons, masterclasses, language courses and body movement coaching – in other words, everything that prepares you for the opera business.”
The Studio students receive a monthly scholarship to help them with the costs of living and working in Berlin.
The next time audiences in Finland will see Jingjing Xu and pianist Christopher Knopp on stage will be on the 22nd of August 2025 at the Turku Music Festival.
In addition to Lieder, the concert will include old Chinese and Mongolian folk songs and a piece of Chinese opera.