Tessan-Maria Lehmussaari is named as the 2020 Jenny Lind Scholar

The soprano Tessan-Maria Lehmussaari was named as the 2020 recipient of the Jenny Lind Stipendium in Stockholm on January the 15th, 2020.

The press release is included here:

Soprano Tessan-Maria Lehmussari has been named this year's Jenny Lind Scholar of the Royal Swedish Musical Academy and Folkets Hus & Parker in Sweden. With this, this large scholarship is re-launched in a new collaboration during the celebration of Jenny Lind's 200th anniversary in 2020.

”I feel extremely honored and touched to have been selected for this year's Jenny Lind Scholar. Singing has been my passion since childhood, and now being given an opportunity to share it with others, thanks to this award, makes me extremely grateful. Classical music has so much to give and it will be fantastic fun to show what my heart is beating for”, says Tessan-Maria Lehmussari.

Tessan-Maria has worked with Drottningholm's Baroque Orchestra, Young Opera (Royal Swedish Opera) and Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, among others. In addition to the sum of SEK 40,000, the scholarship consists of concert tours in Sweden and North America in the summer of 2020.

The jury's motivation for the 2020 Scholarship:
“This year the scholarship goes to Tessan-Maria Lehmussari, who possesses a rare ability to capture her audience. With her beautiful sounding soprano and her excellent technique she conveys both musicality and joy”.

”With great satisfaction and expectation, the Royal Academy of Music hereby enters into a lasting collaboration with Folkets Hus on one of the country's most extensive and exciting singing grants through the world star Jenny Lind's donation to the academy”, says Fredrik Wetterqvist, the Permanent Secretary of the Royal Swedish Musical Academy. “The special anniversary year 2020 will offer a host of fantastic opportunities for performances and concerts for the scholar and pianist, both in Sweden and abroad, and it is a pleasure for us to contribute to this."

”It is with great pleasure that we, together with the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, give the 2020 Jenny Lind scholarship to Tessan-Maria Lehmussari. Through this award, we want to support young singers in their careers in the music world, says Calle Nathanson, CEO of Folkets Hus & Parker.

The Royal Academy of Music and Folkets Hus & Parker have announced a re-launch of the large Jenny Lind scholarship. Since 1875, the Royal Swedish Musical Academy has managed a donation from the world-famous opera singer Jenny Lind. And since 1965, the Folkets Hus & Parker have appointed a Jenny Lind Scholar who has toured in both Sweden and North America. From 2020, when the entire opera world celebrates Jenny Lind's 200th anniversary, the Folkets Hus & Parker’s tour activities and the Royal Swedish Musical Academy's scholarship work in tandem and highlight this year's scholarship a little extra.

Biography
Tessan-Maria Lehmussaari is a Swedish-Finnish soprano born in 1994 from Stockholm. Her interest in opera was born when she, as an eleven-year-old, sang in the children's choir at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm in a production of Cavaleria Rusticana & I Pagliacci. It became clear that opera singing would be her future profession. After two years of study at the Opera Studio in Härnösand, she began the Bachelor's Program at the Stockholm University College of Opera, from which she graduated in June 2019.

In the opera repertoire she has also been seen in roles such as Adele from Die Fledermaus by J. Strauss and Giulietta from I Capuleti e in Montecchi by V. Bellini to name a few.

Tessan-Maria is also active as a concert singer. having sung Magnificat by J. S Bach, Förklädd Gud by L. E. Larsson, Gloria and Magnificat by Vivaldi, Stabat Mater by Pergolesi and Luther in Worms by L. Meinardus.

In addition to the prize amount, SEK 40,000, the scholarship consists of concert tours in Sweden and North America in the summer of 2020. The tour also includes pianist Silja Inkeri Levander.