Our latest global opera star, soprano Christina Nilsson, said in her summer talk on Radio P1 in July that ‘the Stenhammar Competition is a classical music competition focusing on the highest artistic level’ and further that ‘the entire competition takes place in front of an audience over several days, which also gives the audience the opportunity to discover future global stars.’

Since its inception in 2006, the competition has given more than 400 young singers from all over the world, including over 100 from Sweden, the opportunity to take a significant step in their singing careers towards the major opera stages. Christina Nilsson, winner in 2016, is just one of these names. Russian sopranos Julia Novikova and Evgenia Grekova, American Chrystal Williams, South Koreans Jaesin Lee, Yohan Kim and Hayoung Ra, Latvian Vera Talerko, and Swedes Daniel Johansson, Rebecca Wallroth and Matilda Sterby are just a few of the many names who have used the Stenhammar Competition as a springboard. The competition has been a prominent member of the World Federation of International Music Competitions (WFIMC) and hosted its annual meeting in June 2019.

The board of the Wilhelm Stenhammar Foundation has today decided not to hold a competition in 2026. The Wilhelm Stenhammar International Music Competition (WSIMC) will therefore not be held at De Geerhallen next year.
– The decision is extremely sad, as we know how much the competition has been appreciated during the 20 years we have been running it, both by the hundreds of young talents who have had the opportunity to start an international career, and by the audience and host families who, through WSIMC, have been able to enjoy classical singing at a very high international level, says the competition’s founder and artistic director Sonja Stenhammar.

The board notes that continuing the competition requires a new organisation and financial resources that are not currently available and cannot be expected to materialise in the near future.

– As a matter of principle, the Swedish Arts Council does not provide grants for anything classified as a competition. Without some form of state support, it is difficult to continue running our event. Region Östergötland has also found it very difficult to justify granting any significant support in light of the cultural plan that applies there. We understand that Norrköping Municipality and Scenkonst Öst AB are unable to bear the entire burden of public funding, says the foundation’s chairman Claes Egnell, who at the same time expresses his great gratitude to the sponsors who have supported the event the nine times the competition has been held since 2006.

Whether there are conditions for a continuation in some form remains to be seen.

For further information, please contact Claes Egnell, 070-3449796 (claes.h.egnell@gmail.com) or Sonja Stenhammar, 073-0356854 (sonja@stenhammarcompetition.se).

Erik Rosenius, Bass, Sweden

Lotta Bagge, Mezzo, Sweden

Harpa Ósk Björnsdóttir, Soprano, Iceland

Mathilda Bryngelsson, Mezzo, Sweden

Jaesung Kim, Tenor, South Korea

Celine Mun, Soprano, South Korea

Alva Olsson, Soprano, Sweden

Matilda Sterby, Soprano, Sweden

Welcome to exciting competition days on June 8 – 11 from 10:00 to 19:00 (preliminary times)

Free entry!

Final concert on Thursday, June 13 at 18:00, at de Geerhallen with 8 finalists together with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra

Tickets for the final concert are available on the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra’s website.

We are very happy to once again welcome singers from all corners of the earth to this year’s Stenhammar competition!

The competition takes place on June 7 – 13, 2024 in Louis de Geer Norrköping.

After receiving over 130 applications from 29 countries, 45 singers have now been selected for this year’s competition.

Here are this year’s competitors in WSIMC 2024: