History

It was Professor Mirjam Helin's (1911-2006) long-held dream to establish an internationally renowned singing competition in Finland. She finally made her dream into a reality in 1981, with the creation of the Mirjam and Hans Helin fund. Profits from the fund are used to organise the International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition every five years. At the time of making her donation, Mirjam Helin expressed her wish to experience the first competition, organised in 1984. All in all, she came to see a total of five Mirjam Helin International Singing Competitions.

Mirjam Helin’s career began at the Viipuri Conservatory of Music in Lahti and, following her debut performance in 1938, went on to encompass countless international aria and oratorio concerts and a long tenure at the Sibelius Academy in Finland. Teaching was to be her chief artistic passion. Indeed, she counts as one of the foremost Finnish vocal pedagogues and made a significant contribution to the development of teaching methodology in her field.

Always keen to support the talented young artists who participated in the competition, Mirjam Helin would travel the world to hear their performances and engaging in active correspondence. Previous competition winners include Ning Liang, Andrea Rost, Charlotte Hellekant, Elina Garanca, Vladimir Chernov, Olaf Bär, René Pape, Salvatore Champagne, Marcin Bronikowski, Eglise Gutierrez and Woo-Kyong Kim.

Since 1987, the International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition has been a member of the World Federation of International Singing Competitions (Fédération Mondiale des Concours Internationaux de Musique, Genève).

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Mirjam Helin's interview from the year 2004

Read it here.