Biography

Johanna Nylund is a finnish, full-lyric high soprano. Season 2025-2026 starts with her debut in the iconic role of Violetta Valéry in Verdi’s La Traviata, in her current home theatre, Landestheater Detmold. It is followed by two other role debuts: The Vixen in The Cunning little vixen (Janáček)and Avis in The Wreckers (Smythe). In addition she will continue singing Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, as well as Mary Lloyd in Die Herzogin von Chicago as takeovers from last season.

Johanna has made several role debuts at the Finnish National Opera including Donna Anna in Don Giovanni (Mozart), Liisa in Pohjalaisia (Madetoja) and Adele in Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss II). She also made her debut at the Savonlinna Opera Festival as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Anna in Verdi’s Nabucco. She has been a guest with festivals such as Opera Hedeland and Copenhagen Operafestival.

Nylund’s other opera roles include for example Liù in Puccini’s Turandot, Gilda in Verdi’s Rigoletto, Clorinda in Rossini’s Cenerentola and Nella in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi. 

Savonlinna Opera Festival 2024. Photo by Jussi Silvennoinen.

Nylund has been a soloist with different symphony and chamber orchestras, such as the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Århus Symphony Orchestra, South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra, Mikkeli City Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta and Odense Symphony Orchestra. She has worked with many great conductors, including Thomas Søndergård, Ludovic Morlot, Eva Ollikainen, Robert Reimer, Tarmo Peltokoski, Jean Thorel and Marc Soustrot. Her repertoire includes for example Fauré’s Requiem, Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor, Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem, Händel’s The Messiah and Sibelius’ Luonnotar.

Nylund’s repertoire includes also contemporary music. She has sung for example Kaija Saariaho’s Leino songs, Nico Muhly’s How Little You Are, Bent Sørensen’s St. Matthew Passion and several chamber orchestra pieces, as well as some chamber operas. During her studies she also sang the role of Dalloway in Kirsten Milenko’s opera Dalloway (2020) in it’s first public performance at Pulsar festival in Copenhagen, and Virginia Woolf in Mathias Vestergård’s opera Titanic.

Nylund has gained recognition in the Nordics in recent years. In 2024 she received a scholarship from Elisabeth Dons Mindelegat in Denmark, in 2023 a Pro Musica Scholarship in Finland, and in 2022 she was the recipient of the Barbro Salén scholarship 2022 at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, and received a Léonie Sonning talent prize in Copenhagen in the same spring. She has also received support for her studies from Den Bøhmske Fond and Augustinus Fonden.

In 2023 Nylund was awarded a special prize in The Lappeenranta Singing Competition, participated in The Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and was a finalist in the international BA Lirica II Competition in Italy. In 2019 she won the 3rd prize at the international Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition with pianist Johannes Stenberg Brooks, and a 3rd prize in the Kangasniemi singing competition.

Nylund was also a soloist in two Opera Gala -concerts with Vermont Philharmonic Orchestra after winning The Bel Canto Institute Orchestral Performance Award 2018 at the Bel Canto Institute’s summer program in Florence.

Donna Anna at the Finnish National Opera. Photo by Tuomo Manninen.

Nylund graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2022. In addition to The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen (Masters degree and Soloist class degree), Nylund studied a Masters degree in opera in The Stockholm University of the Arts (previously Operahögskolan) in 2022. She also has a bachelor’s degree from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. Her teacher’s include Eva Hess Thaysen, Robert Hyman, Annastiina Tahkola, Rita Susovsky and Helene Gjerris. Currently she continues her lifelong studies with Elena Kerl. She has also taken lessons with Linda Watson and Irina Gavrilovici, and participated in masterclasses by Barbara Hannigan, Soile Isokoski and Anne Sofie von Otter among others.