In the autumn of 2022, the Finnish National Opera launched a new programme in support of the professional development of young singers, with the Louise and George Ehrnrooth Foundation as its founding partner. The singers, who are selected for the programme based on applications and an audition, are offered a temporary trainee soloist contract at the Finnish National Opera for one season at a time. They will be featured in Main Stage productions.
The application for the 2026–2027 season of Young singers’ programme has ended.
”Being a successful opera singer requires skills, which you can only learn from experienced, world-class professionals. The Young Singers’ Programme of the Finnish National Opera will be an excellent opportunity to mentor, encourage and inspire young musicians in all the aspects of performing arts.”
– Hannu Lintu, Chief Conductor of the Finnish National Opera and Ballet
Singers who participated in the program in previous years performed several roles on the main stage of the Finnish National Opera and appeared in other events. In addition, they received coaching, language training, mentoring and participated in master classes.
“The Young Singers’ Programme at Finnish National Opera is an opportunity for talented singing actors to immerse themselves in a community of expert practice. We offer a bespoke prrogramme of activity built to harness the potential of each participant as artist and communicator. We welcome applications from far and wide.” -Thomas de Mallet Burgess, Artistic Director of Opera
Young Singers for the season 2026–2027
In addition to mezzo-soprano Sarah Zieba, who will continue in the programme, sopranos Anna Barletta and Hanna Juntunen, mezzo-soprano Laura Pörsti, tenor Otso Sipilä and tenor Jere Hölttä have been selected for the Young Singers’ Programme for the 2026–2027 season. Congratulations to all those selected!
Anna Barletta
Soprano Anna Barletta is currently studying at the Trentino Belcanto Academy. She graduated with a Master’s degree from the Civica Scuola di Musica Claudio Abbado in Milan in 2023 under the guidance of Romano Franceschetto, specialising in lyric singing. She has taken masterclasses with teachers such as Barbara Frittoli, Riccardo Frizza, Leo Muscato and Nicole Kehrberger.
Barletta won first prize at the 2024 Milano City Chamber Music Competition and the Young Talent Award at the international Marco Koliqi Singing Competition in 2022.
Soprano Hanna Juntunen has studied vocal arts at the Sibelius Academy since 2023. She has also completed a Master’s degree in Russian language and literature.
Juntunen is spending the spring and summer of 2026 as an exchange student at Mozarteum University Salzburg. She has taken masterclasses with teachers including Anu Komsi, Bernarda Fink and Dorothea Wirtz, as well as appeared as a guest artist at the Sibelius Academy Opera and Encuentro de Música y Academia de Santander.
In 2022, Juntunen participated in Lina Lapelytė’s Sun & Sea opera installation at the Cable Factory in Helsinki. Prior to her vocal studies, she sang in the choirs Lempikuoro and Hämäläis-Osakunta Singers.
Mezzo-soprano Laura Pörsti has studied vocal arts at the Sibelius Academy since 2023. She has been soprano Miina-Liisa Värelä’s private student since 2025.
Pörsti has taken masterclasses with William Lewis, Manfred Mayrhofer, Theresa Goble and Monica Groop, among others. She has appeared as a guest artist in the Dramatic Voices Program Berlin, Austrian American Mozart Academy, Helsinki Conservatory Opera, and the Metropolia Opera.
Pörsti was one of the finalists of the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition in 2025.
Tenor Otso Sipilä has studied vocal arts at the Sibelius Academy since 2021. He is a private student of Tuomas Katajala. Sipilä was part of the Finnish National Opera’s extra chorus from 2024 to 2025 and the Savonlinna Opera Festival chorus from 2022 to 2025.
Along with the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Sipilä has appeared as a guest artist at the Sibelius Academy Opera and Helsinki Conservatory Opera.
In 2023, Otso Sipilä was one of the finalists of the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition, and in 2025, he reached the final of the Lappeenranta Singing Competition. Sipilä’s concert repertoire includes Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Mass in C major and Tippett’s A Child of Our Time.
Tenor Jere Hölttä graduated as a music educator from Oulu University of Applied Sciences in 2020. He also holds a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy, awarded in 2023. Hölttä works as a singing teacher at institutions such as the Lahti Conservatory and with the Cantores Minores choir.
In addition to numerous opera roles, Hölttä has appeared as a soloist in works including Rossini’s Petite messe solennelle, Duruflé’s Requiem and Handel’s Messiah. He won the Eero Rantala Fund prize at the Timo Mustakallio Singing Competition in 2021.
Polish-American mezzo-soprano Sarah Zieba completed a performing arts diploma at Boston University’s School of Music under the guidance of Penelope Bitzas in 2024. Additionally, Zieba has graduated with a Master of Music and Bachelor of Music, as well as a Bachelor of Biochemistry from Northwestern University in Illinois.
Zieba, who has a particular affinity for concert music, has appeared as a soloist in works such as Mendelssohn’s Elijah, de Falla’s El amor brujo, and Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde.
