Mirjam Helin Competition winner Jingjing Xu to perform in concert for the first time in Helsinki
24 February 2026
Mezzo-soprano Jingjing Xu sang her way into the hearts of Finnish music lovers at the 2024 Mirjam Helin Competition, and she is now set to return to Finland in March 2026, when she will give her first performance in Helsinki since the competition.
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.