Amanda Kvammen – Norway
Amanda Kvammen is a first-year music student at Bergen Private Gymnas, where she learns classical singing with Hilde Veslemøy Hagen. Amanda started singing at the age of eight, and quickly found her passion for classical music and opera. In 2022 she participated in the national competition Ungdommens Musikkmesterskap (UMM) where she won the first price of singers in her age group. In 2023 she received the scholarship “Furorestipendet”. This has allowed her to further develop her voice by taking singing lessons and participating in courses such as Valdres sommersymfoni. In the future Amanda wants to become a professional classical singer.

Amanda Schmidiger Hansen – Norway
I am a 22-year-old soprano from Oslo, Norway, currently studying at Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo with Solveig Kringlebotn. Before this, I was a student at St Hallvard Videregående Skole, a high school with a music program. In addition, I was enrolled in Asker Kulturskole with singing lessons. During my teenage years I was also a part of two choirs: Røyken pike- og  ungdomskor and Bragernes kirkes ungdomskor. During my years at Barratt Due I have been able to do some amazing projects. In 2022 I was a part of the choir in Elisabetta regina d’Inghilterra by Rossini with the master students at KHIO. This was my first look into an opera production. During the summer of 2023 I was enrolled in the Vienna Summer Music Festival where I got to do the title role in a new opera by Diogo Carvalho, “Girl from Ipanema”.

Anna Mucha – Poland
Anna is a graduate of bachelor’s studies at the vocal and acting department of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice and is currently a master’s student at the same department. On stage, she has already performed opera roles including Serpina in „La Serva Padrona” by G. B. Pergolesi and Lizzie Spender in „The boy who grew too fast” by G. C. Menotti. As a soloist, she collaborated with the Silesian Opera Orchestra in Bytom during the 2021 Opera Gala, as well as with the MAXIME Association Orchestra, with which she performed the soprano part in Stabat Mater by G. B. Pergolesi in 2024. She has won international competitions in Ostrava (Czech Republic), Kaunas (Lithuania) and Oradea (Romania). She has taken part in numerous workshops with Claudia Visca, Barbara Zubanovich, Piotr Beczała, Mariusz Kwiecień and Michał Znaniecki.

Anna Wojcik – Poland
Polish-Canadian soprano who has performed for audiences across Canada, the US, Poland, and Germany. Anna has won countless competitions including the 69th ACPC Marcella Kochańska-Sembrich Vocal Competition and the Oakville Chamber Orchestra Youth Concerto Competition. She has appeared with the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, Toronto Sinfonietta, Camerata Ensemble, the Celebrity Symphony Orchestra, and the Karol Szymanowski Academy’s Baroque Orchestra. Anna has performed multiple opera roles including Annina in Verdi’s La traviata (SOLT), Sister Osmina in Puccini’s Suor Angelica (GGS), The Queen of the Night in Mozart’s Magic Flute, Madame Herz in Mozart’s Impresario, Susanna in Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro and Anne Frank in Livingston’s Singing Only Softly. Anna is in her first year of Master’s studies in Opera at the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice under the tutelage of prof. Marta Brzezińska. She is a graduate of The Royal Conservatory of Music’s Glenn Gould School, where she studied voice with prof. Jean Macphail.

Elise Kolltveit Brekke – Norway
24-year-old Elise Kolltveit Brekke is originally from Bergen. Five years ago, she moved to Stavanger to study classical singing at the University of Stavanger. She spent the 2023 spring semestre as an exchange student in Bologna at the Conservatorio Giovanni Battista Martini with professor Fransesca Pedaci. She has recently finished bachelor’s degree under Elizabeth Nordberg-Schulz in Stavanger. Her next plan is to do a one-year programme in opera at Oslo National Academy of the Arts.

Gabriela Kalinowska – Poland
Born in 2003, in Warsaw.  At the age of 7, she began her adventure with the Alla Polacca Choir. Since 2018 then, she has been one of choir’s soloists, and together, they won 1st prize in the folk music category in 2022 at the Grieg International Choir Festival.  in 2022, she also started her education at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw, specializing in Choral Vocal Studies, obtaining the highest results.  In 2022, she began collaborating as a soloist with the Rozspiewawa Choir, performing solo parts from “Polish Mass” by Jan Maklakiewicz. She has given concerts in places such as Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Nazareth. Since January 2023, she has been supporting young people during charity events, as a conductor and soloist.   In 2024, as a soloist with the Alla Polacca Choir, she won the GRAND PRIX and 1st place in the Contemporary Music category, the Special Award for Exceptional Sound Culture and the Award of Recognition at the 7th International Cantu Gaudeamus Choral Competition.

Giovanna Alves dos Santos – Norway/Brasil
22-year-old Giovanna is a student of music performance under Professor Anne-Lise Sollied at the Conservatory of Music, the Arctic University of Norway. Singing lessons with Hamida Kristoffersen in Copenhagen. Originally from Brazil, Giovanna has lived in Norway since 2012. Since then, she has taken part in musical theatre performances. Her career as a classical singer started during the music programme at Foss Upper Secondary School in Oslo and later at Toneheim folk high school. She has since then focus on developing her career as a classical singer. She has acted as producer for the March 8th concert in Tromsø 2023 and has performed as a soloist in Tromsø Cathedral on several occasions and at the festival Vinterfestuke in Narvik in 2023. She has also worked on promoting Brazilian classical music in Norway through concerts with Elias Eriksen with the music of Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro. Her aim is to work both as a freelance performer and producer of performing arts in Norway.

Grace Touhill – USA
Soprano, United States pursuing her master’s degree at the prestigious Peabody Institute of Music. Miss Touhill initiated her vocal studies at the Sunderman Conservatory of Music and has received vocal instruction under the tutelage of Elizabeth Futral (Peabody), Emily Golden, Dr. Susan Hochmiller (Sunderman Conservatory), and Dauri Shippey (Westminster Choir College). Recent performances include Blow’s Venus and Adonis (Muse), Massenet’s Cendrillon (Sprite) with the Peabody Conservatory Opera, The Gondoliers (Gianetta) with the Bucks County Gilbert & Sullivan Society, and Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Amore/Pallade) with the Sunderman Conservatory of Music. Miss Touhill has performed regularly with The Opera Project of Stockton New Jersey and as a soloist with the Bucks County Choral Society.

Gustav Francis Stevens George – Norway
From Oslo, Norway. Member of the renowned boys’ choir Sølvguttene since the age of 6. Started individual singing lessons two years ago. Has been a part of Barrat Dues Young Talent Program during 2023/2024. Voice: Barytone. In 2024 Gustav was of the winners of Drømmestipendet, was a solo performer in this year’s official 17th May concert given by the city of Oslo together with the Oslo Symphony Orchestra and qualified for a summer voice program at the Juilliard School of Music. In addition to music and song, Gustav is a keen downhill skier and has, especially during his younger years, traveled to the Norwegian mountains to ski. In the summer season, whilst the skies rest, you will find him in a river, flyfishing.

Heiðrún Vala Einarsdóttir – Iceland
24-year-old mezzo-soprano from Iceland. She started her classical vocal training at the age of 13 with the soprano Hallveig Rúnarsdóttir. She is currently doing her bachelor’s degree under the guidance of Frau Prof. Brigitte Wohlfarth at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” (HMT) Leipzig. In 2019, Heiðrún won 2nd prize in the Icelandic singing competition Vox Domini. That year she also became a part of a vocal ensemble that toured with Björk during her Cornucopia world tour until 2023. Heiðrún’s recent projects at the HMT include the roles of Badessa and La maestra della novizie in Puccini’s Suor Angelica, as well as being a soloist in Mendelssohn’s oratorium Paulus with the Leipziger Symphonieorchester.

Ilmi C G Knudsen – Norway
I am a student of music performance as a mezzosoprano at the Conservatory of Music, the Arctic University of Norway. My passion for classical singing started when I attended Toneheim folk high school, and since then, I have continued to pursue this interest. Singing gives me utter joy, especially when I can explore the meaning of the lyrics and convey its feelings through my voice. I want to attend the NINA solo competition to further broaden my musical horizon. Currently, I work on Sesto from La Clemenza di Tito, a role which gives me great joy.

Joar Ekeland Bjørkly – Norway
I’ve mostly sung in a church-based choir called Collegium vocale ung, but I am also a member of Edvard Grieg Ungdomskor. In addition to this, I attend Bergen Private Gymnas in the music-based education with classical voice as my main instrument. When I’m not singing classical music, I play the guitar and sing rock music.

Julia Underskog – Sweden
When I was 12 years old, I was accepted late to Adolf Fredriks musikklasser, a choir school in Stockholm. After five and a half years at that school, I could not bring myself to stop studying music when it was time for “gymnasiet” (comparable with high school), so I applied to and attended Stockholms musikgymnasium/Kungsholmens gymnasium. There, apart from the regular choir lessons with my classmates, I was a second soprano in the special choir, The Stockholm musikgymnasium’s chamber choir, for four years. We attended the Grieg festival in June 2022, a memory for life! I later applied to an education in singing. I auditioned in March 2023, and began my studies at Stockholm Opera studio, Kulturama, in August 2024. The following year was filled with singing, inspiration, theatre, and opera. I will continue studying there during next year, and after that, I cannot wait to see what musical adventures lie ahead.

Laura Streckert – Germany
Laura Streckert has already sung at venues such as the International Handel Festival Karlsruhe at the Badisches Staatstheater, the Beethoven-Haus Bonn, the Tiroler Festspiele Erl, the Thomaskirche and Nikolaikirche Leipzig and the Beethovenfest Bonn. From 2019 to 2021, she was part of the children’s chorus at the Nationaltheater Mannheim. At age 17, she joined the PreCollege program at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. Since 2022, she has been studying there as an undergraduate student in the class of Prof. Christiane Libor. Since 2023, she is a Gerhard-Janssen scholarship holder, supported by the Kulturfonds Baden. Operatic roles include the 2nd Shepherdess and 3rd Nymph in Henry Purcell’s “King Arthur” as well as the mezzo-soprano part in the contemporary children’s opera “Wunderland” by Anno Schreier, both productions of the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe. In January 2024, Laura Streckert gave her professional debut as the Strolling Player in Benjamin Britten’s “Death in Venice” at the Theater und Orchester Heidelberg.

Ljubomir Milanovic – Serbia
He began his singing studies in 2020 at the “Mannheim University of Music and Performing Arts” in Germany, class of Prof. Snežana Stamenkovid. His concert debut in June 2022, when he sang the baritone solo in Duruflé’s Requiem with the “RTS Symphony Orchestra and Choir” at the Kolarac Endowment, Belgrade. In April 2023, he had his opera debut as “Mr. Gobineau” in Menotti’s “The Medium”. Under the guidance of Prof. Axel Bauni he had the chance to record songs of modern composers at “SWR” (Stuttgart) and “DLF” (Cologne). Professional operatic debut at the “Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern” as the “Flemish deputy” in the five-act version of Verdi’s “Don Carlo”. March 2024, he was awarded the second prize (no first prize awarded) at the 18th Paula Salomon-Lindberg – Das Lied competition. Numerous scholarships: Deutschlandstipendium, Junge Talente Stipendium, Richard Wagner Verband Stipendium, etc. Masterlcasses with: D. Bižid, C. Visca, L. Oropesa, J-Noël Briend, R. Piernay and B. Fassbaender.

Maciej Wawrzynek – Poland 
Maciej Wawrzynek is a young countertenor, born and raised in Poland. Maciej is an undergraduate student of Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice, at the department of vocal and acting. He is majoring in vocal and is a student of Professor Elżbieta Grodzka – Łopuszyńska. Maciej comes from a musical family and that’s why he has taken interest in music at a very young age. He began his musical education as a pianist at the Grzegorz Fitelberg State Music School in Chorzów, his piano teacher was Oliwia Stawowska and he was taught vocal by Wioletta Białk PhD. He completed his degree in 2022 with flying colors. Through his education he had the opportunity to perform in “Die Fledermaus” by Johann Strauss son, “La Bohème” by Giacomo Puccini and as a member of a child choir he also sang at the stage of the Lodz Grand Theatre.

Nikolai Gausel – Norway
Nikolai Saglien Gausel is 18 years old, born and raised in Stavanger, and a music student of Stavanger Cathedral school. He started his musical training at the age of 10 and has had many engagements. In 2019 he took part in The Norwegian Youth Festivals of Art at the national level. Until the age of 14, he was much in demand for his soprano voice, and has since developed into a solid baritone. He has received instruction from several highly trained classical singers. In October 2019, he performed the leading role of Harald Dovrefostre in the children’s opera “Harald Dovrefostre”. He has been awarded the cultural scholarship of Sola municipality and Drømmestipendet (the “Dream scholarship”), both in 2019. In the autumn of 2023, he played the lead character in “Flere Farger” in Sola cultural centre.

Sille Gulette Bredesen Gullbekk – Norway
18 years old, has been followed up with singing and classical music since a very young age. She has attended the Barrat Due musical institute all her life, first in the musical kindergarten, later as a violinist and finally as a singer until the age of 16. Since then, she has been a part of the Young Talents programme. In 2013, she was accepted to the children’s choir at the opera and she has performed in large productions on the main stage and smaller performances for young audiences on the second stage. She has won the Norwegian Youth’s Musical Championship class 2.