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Camilla Nylund, born in Vaasa (Finland), first studied with Eva Illes, later in the opera and song class at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. In December 1995 she was awarded the Lilli Lehmann Medal by the International Mozarteum Foundation.
After permanent engagements in Hanover and at the Semperoper Dresden, Camilla Nylund is now one of the internationally most sought-after singers in her field and is a regular guest at all major opera houses – at the Vienna State Opera, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Metropolitan Opera New York, La Scala di Milano, the Paris Bastille, the Berlin and Hamburg State Operas, the Deutsche Oper Berlin, at the Bayreuth and Salzburg Festivals, in Barcelona, Valencia, Zurich, Helsinki, Cologne, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Tokyo, San Francisco.
The artist’s repertoire includes all major parts of the classic-romantic repertoire. Especially with her interpretation of Richard Wagner – Elisabeth, Elsa, Sieglinde, Senta, Isolde, Brünnhilde- and Richard Strauss – Marschallin, Arabella, Gräfin (Capriccio), Chrysothemis, Kaiserin (Frau ohne Schatten), Ariadne, Salome – Camilla Nylund is always anew setting artistic standards.
In addition to her active work on the international opera stages, she is also a regular guest in all major concert halls – Konzerthaus and Philharmonie Berlin, Herkulessaal Munich, “Isarphilharmonie” Munich, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Wiener Musikverein, Wiener Konzerthaus, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Tonhalle Zürich, in Rome, at the BBC Proms, in Philadel-phia, Cleveland, Boston.
Both within the opera and concert field Camilla Nylund is working with all major Maestri of our time – such as Zubin Mehta, Sir Simon Rattle, Christian Thielemann, Andris Nelsons, Daniel Barenboim, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Vladimir Jurowski, Gianandrea Noseda, Riccardo Muti, Marek Janowski, Kent Nagano, Karina Canellakis, Simone Young, Susanna Mälkki, Omer Meir Wellber,and Lahav Shani.
For many years, Camilla Nylund has been giving distinction to the Bayreuth Festival. In 2011 the artist made her debut on the “Green Hill” as Elisabeth in Tannhäuser. In the following years she appeared as Sieglinde (Walküre), Eva (Meistersinger), as well as in the role of Elsa (Lohengrin).
In 2017 Camilla Nylund added an exciting new part to her repertoire: Marie in Wozzeck (Deutsche Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf). 2021 saw her first Jenůfa (Berlin State Opera). In January 2022 she celebrated an acclaimed debut in the part of Eine Frau in Arnold Schönberg’s monodrama Erwartung at the Frankfurt Opera. Her interpretation of Katerina (Lady Macbeth of Mzensk) in a new production at the Hamburg State Opera in January 2023 was enthusiastically received by audiences and press alike.
At Zurich Opera, she debuted Isolde (Tristan und Isolde) and Brünnhilde (Walküre, Siegfried) with great success in the past two seasons. In the 2023/24 season, she made her debut as Brünnhilde in Götterdämmerung, also in Zurich, to overwhelming critical acclaim. She will appear in the complete Ring cycle in Zurich in May 2024.
The 2023/24 season will also see her returning to the Vienna State Opera (Fledermaus, Elektra, Salome). In addition to Tristan und Isolde, she takes on the role of the Empress in a new production of Die Frau ohne Schatten at the Semperoper in Dresden – one of her signature roles. The season ends with a new production of Tristan und Isolde at the Bayreuth Festival (director: Thorleifur Örn, musical director: Semyon Bychkov).
Camilla Nylund also pays a particular attention to the genre of the recital. Together with Helmut Deutsch she is dedicating her recital programs to the romantic German songs as well as to the composers from her Scandinavian homeland, especially Jean Sibelius. In addition to various concert engagements, Camilla Nylund can be heard in the 2023/24 season in recitals at the Musikverein Graz and Baden-Baden.
The versatile artist showed previously unknown facets during the Corona pandemic. Following an idea by André Heller, whom she met during a new production of Der Rosenkavalier at the Berlin State Opera, the project “Great American Songbook” was born. In this concert film recorded for ORF III, she interprets love songs in the spirit of US show business from the 1930s to the 1970s together with the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna conducted by Marin Alsop in varied arrangements ranging from “combo” to large symphonic orchestra. A DVD and CD of the project has been released in December 2022 by Naxos.
In recognition of her artistic achievements, Camilla Nylund has received numerous awards. In November 2022, she was presented with the Lotte Lehmann Memorial Ring – one of the world’s most prestigious awards for female opera singers. In September 2022, she was awarded with the European Culture Prize alongside other high-profile laureats in the Zurich Tonhalle. To honour Camilla Nylund’s long and successful artistic relationship with the Vienna State Opera, the artist was awarded the title of Austrian Kammersängerin (2019). The Semperoper Dresden has also appointed Camilla Nylund as Saxon Kammersängerin. She is also recipient of the Christel Goltz Prize of the Semperoper (2000), the Culture Prize of the Swedish Cultural Fund in Finland, the Pro Finlandia Medal, awarded by the Finnish President (2013), and the Finnish State Prize for Music (2019).