Johanna Nylund is a full-lyric Finnish soprano praised for her radiant high notes and the expressiveness of singing. Season 2025-2026 starts with her debut in the iconic role of Violetta Valéry in Verdi's La Traviata, in her current home theatre Landestheater Detmold. It is followed by two other role debuts: The Vixen in The Cunning Little Vixen by L. Janáček and Avis in The Wreckers by E. Smyth. In addition she will continue singing Pamina in Die Zauberflöte, as well as Mary Lloyd in Die Herzogin von Chicago.
Nylund has made several role debuts at the Finnish National Opera including Donna Anna in W.A. Mozart‘s Don Giovanni, Liisa in Pohjalaisia by L. Madetoja and Adele in Die Fledermaus (J. Strauss II). She also made her debut at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2024 as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, and Anna in G. Verdi's Nabucco. She has been a guest at several other festivals, including Opera Hedeland and Copenhagen Opera Festival, with roles such as Liù in G. Puccini‘s Turandot, Clorinda in G. Rossini‘s La Cenerentola and Gilda in G. Verdi‘s Rigoletto.
Nylund has been a soloist with different symphony and chamber orchestras, such as the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Århus Symphony Orchestra, South Denmark Philharmonic Orchestra, Mikkeli City Orchestra and Odense Symphony Orchestra. She was Artist-in-Residence at the Rued Langgaard Festival in 2023 and has worked with conductors such as Thomas Søndergård, Ludovic Morlot, Eva Ollikainen, Marc Soustrot, tarmo Peltokoski, Jean Thorel, Andrea Sanguineti and Hannu Lintu.
Nylund has gained recognition in the Nordics in recent years. In 2024 she received a scholarship from Elisabeth Dons Mindelegat in Denmark, in 2023 a Pro Musica Scholarship in Finland, and in 2022 she was the recipient of the Barbro Salén scholarship 2022 at the Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm as well as received a Léonie Sonning talent prize in Copenhagen in the same spring.
In 2023 Nylund was awarded a special prize in The Lappeenranta Singing Competition, participated in The Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels, and was a finalist in the international BA Lirica II Competition in Italy. In 2019 she won the 3rd prize at the international Copenhagen Lied-Duo Competition with pianist Johannes Stenberg Brooks, and a 3rd prize in the Kangasniemi singing competition.
Nylund graduated from The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen (Master’s degree and Soloist class degree) and from The Stockholm University of the Arts (previously Operahögskolan) in 2022. She also has a bachelor’s degree from the Savonia University of Applied Sciences in Finland. Nylund used to play the violin and sing in a heavy metal band. Once in a while she can still be spotted in a karaoke bar singing a song by Nirvana, System of A Down, or something completely different.
