Helena Juntunen

Ensemble: (Current) Finnish National Opera

Freelancer: Opéra National de Lyon, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Semperoper Dresden, La Monnaie – De Munt

Finnish soprano Helena Juntunen has established an international career performing at major European houses including the Opéra National de Lyon, Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Semperoper Dresden, La Monnaie – De Munt in Brussels, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Opéra National du Rhin, and GöteborgsOperan. A member of the Finnish National Opera since 1999, her repertoire with the company includes Zdenka (Arabella), Sophie (Der Rosenkavalier), Mimì (La Bohème), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), and roles in world premieres by Jüri Reinvere and Sebastian Fagerlund.

Ms. Juntunen began her vocal studies at age fifteen at the Oulu Conservatoire under Airi Tokola and later earned a Master of Music from the Sibelius Academy, where she studied with Anita Välkki. She won the women’s division of the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 2002 and was awarded the Karita Mattila Prize in 2006.

Her professional breakthrough came as Marguerite in Faust at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2002. During the 2003–2004 season, she made several debuts: Connecticut Opera (Faust), Teatro Carlo Felice Genoa (Il viaggio a Reims), Vlaamse Opera (Arabella), and Semperoper Dresden (Die Zauberflöte), as well as concert appearances at Carnegie Hall and in Tokyo. Further engagements have included Countess Almaviva and Donna Elvira at Opéra National de Lyon, Marie (Wozzeck) at Opéra de Nice, Clara (Der Zwerg) and Marietta (Die tote Stadt) at Opéra National de Lorraine, Tatiana (Eugene Onegin) at Wasa Theatre, and Greta Graumann (Der ferne Klang) at Opéra National du Rhin.

She is particularly associated with the role of Pamina, which she has sung at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence under Daniel Harding, La Monnaie – De Munt under René Jacobs, Grand Théâtre de Genève, Wiener Festwochen, Theater an der Wien, and Semperoper Dresden. Other recent appearances include Madama Butterfly and Donna Elvira at the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Marie/Marietta in Die tote Stadt at Theater Basel, Salome in Strasbourg, and Káťa Kabanová at Opéra National de Lorraine.

In concert, Ms. Juntunen has appeared with orchestras such as the Berliner Philharmoniker under Donald Runnicles, the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Osmo Vänskä, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under Leif Segerstam. Her repertoire includes Luonnotar, Missa Solemnis, Vier letzte Lieder, and works by Unsuk Chin, Hafliði Hallgrímsson, and Szymanowski. She has recorded for Ondine and BIS, including the first orchestral recordings of Sibelius’s Höstkvälland Hertig Magnus.