Henriikka Gröndahl, Lyric soprano
Henriikka Gröndahl is a versatile lyric soprano with roots in Finland, her home in Sweden, and a cosmopolitan life - having lived one year in Australia, seven in the UK and having spent most of her summers in Finland, France, Germany and Italy!
Her career began with a boom at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 2004, when she stepped in as the cover of Mimì in La Bohème. She sang a total of 11 performances of it for Scottish Opera – both at the Theatre Royal in Glasgow and at the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. During her first years out of college, she also sang Pamina for British Youth Opera and Papagena (covering Pamina) for Glyndebourne Touring Opera.
In the recent years, Henriikka has been on tour with the Folkoperan production of the Mozart Requiem, world premièred the short opera "Jane", commissioned by the Royal Opera House in Sweden, and sang Liù in Turandot at Folkoperan in Stockholm. In the spring of 2018, she performed Euridice (Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice) at Norrlandsoperan and on tour, and also at the Budapest Armel Opera Festival in the summer.
(As a student at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Henriikka performed the roles of Nella (Gianni Schicchi), Massenet’s Manon, Princesse (L’enfant et les Sortilèges), Handel’s Alcina under Christian Curnyun and Ilia in Mozart’s Idomeneo under Timothy Dean.)
Henriikka made her Swedish debut at The Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, singing Ravel’s Princesse in L'enfant et les sortilèges in 2005. Also in 2005, she sang Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte) at the Sage, Gateshead, directed by Sir Thomas Allen, and Donna Elvira for Scottish Opera. In 2005 and 2006 she sang Nanetta (Falstaff) at the Gothenburg Opera under Pietro Rizzo and Pamina (Zauberflöte) before a capacity audience during Gothenburg’s hosting of the European Championships of Athletics. In 2008, Henriikka sang Fünfte Magd (Elektra) at Barcelona’s Liceu and Villa-Lobos’ Bachianas Brasileiras with Gustavo Dudamel and The Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. 2008 also saw her perform Musetta (Bohème) at the ROH Stockholm and at the Gothenburg opera, where she also sang Juliet in a performance of Romeo and Juliet (arranged and conducted by Bjorn Dobbelaere). In 2009-2010, Henriikka again performed Pamina (Magic Flute) at the Gothenburg Opera.
Henriikka frequently performs in concerts in Sweden and around Europe; major works have included Brahms Ein Deutsches Requiem (Cheltenham, Helsingborg and Göteborg symphony orchestras and under Bramwell Tovey and Andrew Manze), Mozart’s Requiem (Barcelona and Anghiari, Italy), the C minor Mass and Rossini Stabat Mater (Paisley, Liverpool), Pergolesi Stabat Mater (Imperia, Italia), Beethoven Mass in C (Glasgow), Handel’s The Messiah (Edinburgh and Linköping), the Berio Folksongs with the Northern Sinfonia under Susanna Mälkki. Later engagements have included Det ljusa landet, Helsingborg, Hugo Alfvéns Symfoni No 4 (Nybrokajen, Stockholm), St Matthews passion at the Nidaros Dome (Trondheim), Mahler´s 8th Symphony at Katarina Church and Die Schöpfung with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under Gustav Sjökvist.
Engagements in recent years have included a Swedish Song recital at the Stockholms Konserthus with BengtÅke Lundin, the opera performance "Stitch & Bitch" at the Folkoperan "Showrooms" opera festival, a festival in which Henriikka also sang in the site specific art project by Joshua Sofaer; "Operahjälpen", which since received world wide media attention. With Opera Mecatronica, Henriikka performed at the Royal Opera in Stockholm and at the Rotterdam Operadagen. She sang Brahms Requiem with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Andrew Manze, several Brahms Requiems with Sonny Jansson in Stockholm and Strängnäs, Mozart Requiem, and Förklädd Gud in Stockholm, an Opera Gala concert a in Slovakia, and jumped in as vocal cover for Liù in Turandot, Gothenburg opera (at one day’s notice) under Tobias Ringborg.
In the autumn of 2016, Henriikka was on tour with the Folkoperan production of the Mozart Requiem, and world premièred the short opera "Jane", commissioned by the Royal Opera House in Sweden. In the autumn of -17, she sang Liù in Turandot at Folkoperan in Stockholm, and in the spring of 2018, she performed Euridice (Gluck Orfeo ed Euridice) at Norrlandsoperan and on tour, and also at the Budapest Armel Opera Festival in the summer.