Nina Stemme
The Birgit Nilsson Foundation announced today in Stockholm that the Birgit Nilsson Prize for 2018 will be awarded to Nina Stemme. The Prize Award Ceremony will take place in the presence of Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia on October 11, 2018 at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, Sweden. At the ceremony, the Royal Opera Orchestra led by American conductor Evan Rogister will accompany renowned Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel and Swedish soprano Christina Nilsson.
Also announced at the press conference, the Birgit Nilsson Foundation will be transferred in January 2019 to the care of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm.
Upon receiving news of the Birgit Nilsson Prize, Nina Stemme commented, “It is a great honour to be recognized for my work, but it is even greater to be recognized in my home country by a world-renowned organization that bears the name and carries the legacy of a legend…my idol Birgit Nilsson. As this is her centenary, receiving this award becomes a most humbling and extraordinary honour.” ¬
This is the fourth time that the Birgit Nilsson Prize will be awarded. Birgit Nilsson personally chose the first laureate, Placido Domingo, who received the award in 2009. The second and third Prize recipients, conductor Riccardo Muti (2011) and the Vienna Philharmonic (2014), as well as the 2018 Prize recipient Nina Stemme, were nominated by an international panel of classical music experts.
