Olga Nikolskaja-Heikkilä, soprano

A singer of the new generation, Olga Nikolskaja-Heikkilä impresses with her large repertoire and high aims. Her soprano has been described as mellifluous and elegant, while her lively interpretative skills have received high praise. Third prizes at the 2009 Kangasniemi song competition and the 2010 Lappeenranta national song competition launched Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä's career bringing her under the eyes of Finnish audiences. Having graduaded in 2010 with a BA in Music from the Sibelius Academy of Music in Helsinki, where she was supervised by Anssi Hirvonen, she has continued her studies since 2010 under the supervision of Susanna Eken at the Danish Royal Opera Academy in Copenhagen, which operates in conjunction with the Danish Royal Opera. Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä also holds a MA in Theology from the University of Joensuu.

Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä has taken master classes with renowned singers and teachers including Teresa Berganza, Monica Groop, Elena Obraztsova, Christoph Prégardien and Mikael Eliasen. She has studied Lied singing under Ilmo Ranta, Kristian Attila and Heikki Pellinen, and sings Lied-duos with pianists Tuula Hällström, Ville Matvejeff and Kiril Kozlovsky. Her experiences of performing in Finland span the Tuusulanjärvi Chamber Music Festival in 2009 and the Turku Music Festival in 2010. Her growing spectrum of performances outside Finland include the 2008 Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany and the 2009 Norwegian Olavsfestdagene Music Festival. She has further sung solos with the Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra, the Lappeenranta City Orchestra and the Helsinki Concordia Orchestra, and worked with a variety of directors such as Peter Larsen, Markus Lehtinen and Tibor Bogányi.

Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä's wide Romantic repertoire is complemented by Baroque music, which she has studied accompanied by teachers like Tuuli Lindeberg. Her Baroque performances encompass the 2009 Helsinki Historical Music Week, the 2009 Tuusulanjärvi Chamber Music Festival and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra concert series in 2010. She has sung oratorium solos in J. S. Bach's Matteus and Johannes passions, Händel's Messiah and Stabat Mater by Pergoles. In addition to these genres, Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä also enjoys singing modern music and has worked with young Finnish composers such as Ville Raasakka and Jouni Hirvelä, and modern music pianist Emil Holmström.

The opera projects of the Helsinki Conservatory and the vocational college Stadia have given Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä the opportunity to shine on stage in the roles of Gretel in Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck and Pamina in Mozart's Zauberflöte. She has also undertaken the roles of Adina (Elisir d'Amore), Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) and Liu (Turandot). In the 2011 season of the Danish Royal Opera Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä sings the role of Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Ms. Nikolskaja-Heikkilä has been supported by organizations including the Finnish Culture Fund and the Pro Musica Trust.

Homepage: Olga Nikolskaja-Heikkilä