Masterclass with Gitta-Maria Sjöberg

Three day masterclass with Gitta-Maria Sjöberg soprano and chairman of the Swedish Birgit Nilsson Society will find place on October 31, November 1st and 2nd at 10 am - 1 pm and 2 pm - 4 pm.

The masterclass suits advanced singing students and professional singers. Each day she will start with a light warm-up and exercises with the participants. Gerrit Schuil will accompany on the piano.

Participation fee is 20.000 ISK per participant, subsidized by Reykjavík Opera Days.

There are places for eight singers - please apply before October 10th on operudagar@operudagar.is  

Everyone is welcome to observe the masterclass. Entry is free.

Gitta-Maria Sjöberg incredible soprano voice has made her a highly cherished and wanted guest singer all over the world. Her versatility is extraordinary. She masters both lyric and highly dramatic parts giving her characters sublime inner life and complexity. Her range covers a broad repertoire of roles such as Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Mimi , Desdemona, Amelia, Leonora, Arabella, Sieglinde, Brangaene, Rusalka, Katarina Ismailova, Kostelnicka and Emilia Marty. For the latter, she was named singer of the year by leading German critics. In the fall of 2014, she was invited to open the Janácek Festival in Brno in the role of Emilia Marty in “Vec Makropulos”, and the reviews were overflowing with success. The performance was recorded and was aired in The European Radio and on Czechish TV. Recently, the show was awarded first prize for the best production of an opera in Czech Republic and plans have been made for a DVD release. In 2017 she sang the role of “The Mother” in the premiere of Louise Alenius’ opera “Silent Zone” at the Copenhagen Opera Festival.

Gitta-Maria Sjöberg received her education from the Opera Academy in Copenhagen where she was trained and coached by the great Finnish bass singer Kim Borg. Nowadays she shares her experiences and teaches many masterclasses for young promising talents who benefit from her coaching and large experience.

Gitta-Maria is also a highly gifted lied-singer and has been giving solo Recitals all over Europe. She works with the same presence, enthusiasm and energy, whether it is a Schubert-lied, a Folk song or a Jazz ballad. The large interest she has for lieder and songs inspired her to establish a new festival in Sweden called “Nordic Song Festival”, which had its successful opening in the summer of 2014. The festival consists of a mix of masterclasses, concerts and artistic research. Nordic Song Festivalis growing with great success and she bids you “Welcome to Nordic Song FestivalJune 28 – July 6 2018!”

Among her many records and publications, you’ll find “Verdi & Puccini Arias”, “Nordic Trio: Nordic Folk Songs and Ballads”, and “15 Songs by Gustaf Fröding”. Recently, she released a recording with interpretations of Nordic Christmas songs with the title: “Nordic Winter Christmas Songs”.

Her portrayal of the demonic and yet tragic role of Kostelnicka at Malmö Opera’s rendition of Jenufain 2011 was praised by Opera News as one of the best ever made, and is available on DVD from ArtHaus Musik.