There is no house style to satisfy, no season to fill: only the work, and the people who choose to make it. We came together around this opera and built the production to fit the piece, rather than fitting the piece into an existing structure. The same openness shapes how we work: the compositional process, the staging, and the design develop side by side, in conversation, from the very beginning. We believe an opera can be ambitious at the highest level and built differently - and that proving it is part of what Philomela is for.
Olga Heikkilä
PHILOMELA & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Finnish soprano with major debuts at San Francisco Opera, the Metropolitan Opera (Saariaho’s Innocence), La Monnaie, Staatsoper Stuttgart and Berlin, and the Royal Opera House, London. Known for roles from baroque to contemporary opera and for collaborations with directors including Kasper Holten, Simon Stone and Nicola Raab. She is completing doctoral research into speech-song and vocal expression at the Sibelius Academy.
olgaheikkila.com
Uljas Pulkkis
COMPOSER
One of Finland’s leading contemporary opera composers, with thirteen operas premiered internationally — among them at the Helsinki Festival, Ilmajoki Opera and in Los Angeles — and more than fifty orchestral works. Celebrated for rich orchestration, melodic expressiveness and innovative work with timbre. Doctorate in the psychoacoustics of orchestration, Sibelius Academy.
uljaspulkkis.com
Simon Jensen
LIBRETTIST · DRAMATURG
German-Swedish actor, writer and director, with engagements at Thalia Theater Hamburg, Volksbühne Berlin and Burgtheater Vienna. Invited to the Berlin Theatertreffen in 2013 and nominated for the Nestroy Theatre Prize in 2017. He has also appeared as an actor in opera productions at the Zürich Opera and Semperoper Dresden.
www.simonjensenswelt.de
Klaus Haapaniemi
SET & COSTUME DESIGN
Internationally celebrated artist and designer, living and working in Berlin. His narrative-driven approach unites Nordic craft tradition with contemporary art, exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. Recipient of Finland’s State Design Prize (2018).
www.klaush.com
Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason
CONDUCTOR
One of his generation’s most versatile musicians — conductor, pianist, violist and composer. He has conducted Anna Thorvaldsdóttir’s UR in Norway, Switzerland and Iceland and led Björk’s orchestral concerts. Named “Brightest Prospect” at the Icelandic Music Awards in 2016.
www.bjarnifrimann.com
Johanne Højlund
PROCNE
Danish mezzo-soprano and soprano who has sung leading and supporting roles at the Royal Danish Opera, Danish National Opera and Norwegian Opera, and appeared as a soloist with several Nordic symphony orchestras. Trained at the Royal Danish Opera Academy with further study in New York, and the recipient of numerous prestigious Danish awards and grants.
svenskakonsertbyran.se/artists/johanne-hojlund
Johannes Held
TEREUS
German baritone who has performed at the Royal Danish Opera, Danish National Opera, Wermland Opera and other international houses, in roles including Papageno, Guglielmo and Escamillo. He has given more than 200 recitals across Europe and is widely recognised for his interpretations of Schubert’s Winterreise.
www.johannes-c-held.com
Karin Pennanen
DOCUMENTARY DIRECTOR
Internationally awarded film director (MA), whose feature documentary Päivien lumo (2025) won top prizes at the DocPoint and PÖFF festivals. For Philomela she directs On Nightingales and Swallows, capturing the work’s arc from the earliest rehearsals to the premiere and world tour.
Konstanze Kaas
PRODUCER
Austrian dramaturg and music manager with a background in musicology (Vienna), music aesthetics (Graz) and artists’ contract law (Linz). She has worked with opera houses and festivals across Europe, including the Savonlinna Opera Festival, Landestheater Neustrelitz and the Europäische Wochen Passau
www.konstanzekaas.com
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