Yulia Lezhneva and Kihwan Sim victorious in 6th Mirjam Helin Singing Competition

Yulia Lezhneva

Kihwan Sim

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Russian soprano Yulia Lezhneva and South Korean bass Kihwan Sim were the outright winners of the 2009 Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition, which climaxed at the National Opera in Helsinki on Wednesday night.
      The international event, being held for the sixth time, closed with a final featuring eight singers accompanied by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leif Segerstam.
      In the women's category the runner-up spot was taken by American soprano Nadine Sierra, third place went to South Korean soprano Keunghea Kang, and soprano Kishani Jayasinghe from Sri Lanka was 4th.
      Among the men, Kihwan Sim was followed home by American baritone Timothy Mix, with Canadian countertenor David DQ Lee and baritone Azamat Zheltyrguzov from Kazakhstan taking third and fourth respectively.
     
The winners in each category collected prize-money of EUR 25,000. 2nd prize was worth 20,000 euros, 3rd 15,000, and 4th 10,000 euros.
      A separate prize - worth EUR 3,000 - to the best performance of a Finnish song by a non-Finnish contestant went to German soprano Katharina Göres.
      At the National Opera on Wednesday, winner Yulia Lezhneva presented Manon's aria "Allons! Il le faut" from Jules Massenet's opera Manon and Zelmira's aria "Riedi al soglio" from Gioacchino Rossini's Zelmira.
      The men's winner Kihwan Sim took as his final programme Ralph's aria "Quand la flamme de l'amour" from Georges Bizet's La Jolie Fille de Perth and Banquo's aria "Come dal ciel precipita" from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Macbeth.
     
The Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition has been organised by the Finnish Cultural Foundation every five years since 1984.
      Out of 343 applications from 42 countries this year, altogether 64 singers were chosen to participate, and these were whittled down to twenty singers for the semi-final stage and eight finalists.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Gutierrez and Kim take top honours at Mirjam Helin Competition (12.8.2004)

Links:
  Sixth International Mirjam Helin Singing Competition

Helsingin Sanomat