Christmas Opera returns to Turku

The Turku Music Festival's Christmas concert on 14 December will feature young opera stars, familiar arias and the Christmas spirit across Europe.

Four stars will take to the stage of the Concert Hall, who may not yet be known to the general public: Iris Candelaria, Elsa Angervo, Tuomas Miettola and Luke Terence Scott. Each of these youngsters has, in their own way, won glory in international singing competitions and represents the most exciting cutting edge of Finnish opera right now. Candelaria won first prize and the Audience Award at the Lappeenranta Song Contest in 2023, Angervo won the Timo Mustakallio Song Contest in Savonlinna in July 2025, Miettola has been awarded the first ever Jorma Hynninen Art Prize and Scott was chosen as the 'Rising Star of Voice' at the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival in 2025. The concert will be completed by piano duo Marjaana Merikanto and Juho Keränen.

This year's Christmas Opera aims to highlight young artists and bring a European and multicultural Christmas atmosphere to Turku. "I think it's great that we get to introduce these rising stars of opera to the Turku audience. All of them have excelled in singing competitions and have a great future ahead of them", says Jussi Merikanto, Managing Director of the Turku Music Festival, opening the selection of artists for the concert.

The concert is divided into two parts; the first half consists of operas by Mozart, Bizet, Rossini, Donizetti and Verdi, while in the second half the audience will enjoy Christmas carols from all over Europe. The concert programme has just been published and can be viewed in full on the Turku Music Festival website.

Turku Music Festival: Christmas Opera 2025
14.12.2025 at 18:00, Turku Concert Hall