BIOGRAPHY
Kajsa Dahlbäck is a Finnish soprano and artistic director, focusing on repertoire within early and contemporary music. She is a versatile artist with extensive international experience as a soloist with many orchestras, both baroque and modern. Ms Dahlbäck is founding artistic director of Vaasa Baroque, a year around festival in her home town, as well as Earthly Angels ensemble.
Ms Dahlbäck has performed as a soloist with many orchestras, such as Tapiola Sinfonietta, Helsinki Baroque Orchestra and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra at the Herrenchiemsee Festspiele (Germany), Bolzano Festival (Italy), Musica Antiqua (Brazil), Brezice Festival (Slovenia), Kirkko Soikoon! festival, Helsinki Festival and BRQ Vantaa.
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Ms Dahlbäck especially enjoys singing on the concert platform with orchestras and instrumental ensembles. She has an extensive repertoire ranging from works by Monteverdi, Leonarda, Grandi, Bach and Handel to contemporary composers such as Kimmo Hakola and Kaija Saariaho. She has premiered many works, both forgotten pieces from the 17th century and contemporary ones.
Her debut at the Finnish National Opera was in 2015 as Drusilla and Amor (voice) in Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea. Other operatic work has included e.g. Silvia (Haydn: L'isola disabitata), Cyane (Kraus: Proserpin), Morgana (Handel: Alcina), Valencienne (Lehár: The Merry Widow) and Damon (Handel: Acis and Galatea). In addition to singing Ms Dahlbäck also conducts, particularly larger vocal works with orchestra, such as Bach's St John passion, B minor mass and Handel's The Messiah.
Ms Dahlbäck is artistic director of Vaasa Baroque, an early music festival in Vaasa, Finland (www.vaasabaroque.com) that she founded in 2013. She also leads Earthly Angels early music ensemble, founded in 2016.
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Kajsa Dahlbäck studied church music at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki and graduated with excellent grades in 2005. She also took a master's degree from the Opera Academy of Gothenburg University. In 2020 she completed her artistic doctorate (DMus) at the artistic program of the Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki.
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In 2004 Dahlbäck won second prize at the Kangasniemi singing competition. In 2007 she won an opera role (Purcell: The Fairy Queen) in the international singing competition AsLiCo in Como, Italy. In 2008 she won two special prizes in the Lappeenranta singing competition.
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In 2022 Dahlbäck was awarded the Culture Prize by Svenska folkskolans vänner for her outstanding artistic work as well as for the early music field in Finland. In 2023, TAIKE (The Arts Promotion Centre Finland) supported Ms Dahlbäck's work.
Dahlbäck’s work has also been supported by Pro Musica, Helene och Walter Grönqvist and Vaasan Jaakkoo, foundations (without application). In 2013 Konstsamfundet rewarded her the Jenny Spennert grant for her work in the early music field and in 2021 the Stina Krook foundation rewarded her a grant for her artistic work. Other scholarships have been granted by Finnish Cultural Foundation, Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland and Victoriastiftelsen.
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Argo ensemble's debut album in 2013, Canta la serenissima, received excellent reviews in international media. With her ensemble Earthly Angels, Ms Dahlbäck has won Album of the Year 2018 by YLE (Finnish Broadcasting Company). The first album consists of music by 17th century Italian nun composers. In 2021 Earthly Angel's second album, La rêveuse, was released on ALBA records.
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Dahlbäck is also senior lecturer of baroque voice at Novia UAS in Pietarsaari, Finland.