Stefan Astakhov and Johanna Wallroth are the winners of The Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition

Stefan Astakhov and Johanna Wallroth are the winners of The Mirjam Helin Competition

The Jury of the VIII Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition awarded the prizes as follows:

For men:

1st prize: Stefan Astakhov, baritone, German
2nd prize: Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo, countertenor, Italian-Venezuelan
3rd prize: Bryan Murray, baritone, American
4th prize: Jussi Juola, bass-baritone, Finnish


For women: 

1st prize: Johanna Wallroth, soprano, Swedish
2nd prize: Olga Cheremnykh, soprano, Russian
3rd prize: Teaa An, mezzo-soprano, South Korean
4th prize: Palesa Malieloa, soprano, South African
 

The prizes are: 1st prize €30 000, 2nd prize €20 000, 3rd prize €15 000 and 4th prize €10 000. 

In addition, the prize of €3 000 for the best performance by a non-Finnish singer of a Finnish song was awarder to Italian-Venezuelan countertenor Rodrigo Sosa Dal Pozzo. 

A total of €173 000 was awarded in prizes.  

The members of the Jury vote independently and do not discuss the performances during the voting procedure. The chairman of the 2019 Jury is the Artistic Director of the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Jorma Silvasti. The members are Olaf Bär, Ben Heppner, Vesselina Kasarova, François Le Roux, Waltraud Meier, Deborah Polaski and Kiri Te Kanawa. 

46 young singers took part in the VIII Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition on 20-29 May. The Jury selected 20 for the Semifinals and eight for the Final. 

Prizewinners’ Concert

The prizewinners’ concert was held at Madetoja Hall in Oulu on 31 May 2019. The laureates performed with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Hannu Lintu.


All competition performances are available at mirjamhelin.fi.