Birgit Nilsson Prize
birgit nilsson 1979 ©beth bergman

The Birgit Nilsson Prize is the largest prize in classical music, awarded approximately every three years to an active artist or institution who has contributed an important chapter to music history. The Prize serves not only as a recognition of the recipients’ outstanding achievements, but as testament to the importance of passion and dedication in musical life and an incentive for younger musicians as they embark on their careers.

It was Birgit Nilsson herself who stipulated the criteria for the Prize and personally chose Plácido Domingo as the first recipient, writing his name on a piece of paper that was sealed in an envelope and not opened until three years after she died. Domingo received the Prize in 2009 in a moving award ceremony at the Royal Swedish Opera, on the same stage where Birgit Nilsson launched her operatic career more than half a century earlier. Successive recipients have been proposed by an international Advisory Panel of experts and voted on by the Board of the Birgit Nilsson Foundation. Riccardo Muti was the Prize recipient in 2011, followed by the Vienna Philharmonic in 2014 and in 2018, the year which celebrated the 100th anniversary of Birgit Nilsson’s birth, the Prize was awarded to Swedish dramatic soprano, Nina Stemme.

In May 2022 Yo-Yo Ma was announced as the fifth recipient and first instrumentalist to receive the Prize. Commenting at the time of the announcement, Birgit Nilsson Foundation President, Susanne Rydén, said “In today’s challenging and ever-evolving world, when classical music is too easily marginalised, Yo-Yo Ma embodies everything that Birgit Nilsson wished for in a fellow-artist when she created this Prize. Through exceptional musicianship, passion and dedication, Yo-Yo Ma’s commitment to music helps us to imagine and build a stronger society and better future. His support and engagement continuously inspires new generations of musicians as they embark on their own musical lives.

The Birgit Nilsson Stipendium is given to promising young singers and is awarded from a fund that she established in 1969. The first Stipendium was presented in 1973 and today it is awarded annually at the church of Västra Karup in South Sweden, where Birgit herself sang often during her life. Throughout her career, Birgit Nilsson felt a personal responsibility for the future of opera and wanted to contribute by supporting the continued musical education of talented young Swedish singers.

The 2024 Birgit Nilsson Stipendium was awarded to soprano Matilda Sterby who receives 250.000 SEK. After completing her studies at the Stockholm Academy of Opera in 2019, Matilda has quickly established a successful stage career. This season she makes her Malmö Opera debut as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni and as Magda, the female lead, in La Rondine at the Volksoper Wien. She has also performed Mimì in La Bohème and Micaëla in Carmen in Karlsruhe and the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro in Hannover and Klagenfurt. Upcoming engagements include Fiordiligi in Malmö and Micäela at Gothenburg Opera, and in 2025 she performs The Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at the Volksoper Vienna, before returning to Gothenburg for performances as Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes.

The Birgit Nilsson Museum was opened in 2010 at the farmhouse in Svenstad, South Sweden, where the singer lived with her parents until she was 23 years old. It is the place she returned to throughout her life and where she was continuously involved and committed to concerts within the local community. Today visitors can experience the farmhouse preserved as it was during Birgit Nilsson’s lifetime, explore the permanent and annual exhibitions, access the archive of recordings, letters and documents and follow the 9 km round hiking trail from the farm to the church of Västra Karup, where Sweden’s legendary opera singer was buried.

Every summer the Museum hosts the “Birgit Nilsson Days” with annual masterclasses and concerts in the church of Västra Karup, featuring both established and young Swedish opera singers – maintaining responsibility for nurturing and educating the next generation of talent, in the same spirit that Birgit Nilsson exemplified throughout her life.

Swedish soprano Matilda Sterby has been named this year’s Birgit Nilsson Stipendium artist, in an announcement made at the museum in Båstad. Matilda, who recently returned home from Vienna following her Volksoper debut, will receive SEK 200 000 (c.17 000 euros) and performs her Stipendium recital in Birgit’s “own” Västra Karup church, as part of this year’s Birgit Nilsson Days celebrations.

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­The 2024 Birgit Nilsson Days take place from 4 – 10 August at the legendary singer’s home on the Bjäre Peninsula. Supported by the Birgit Nilsson Museum and the Foundation which also curates the Prize in her name, the week-long festival supports singers at all stages of their careers and invites amateur local choirs to also take to the stage.

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The 2023 Birgit Nilsson Stipendium is awarded to Swedish mezzo-soprano Ida Ränzlöv, who receives 200.000 Swedish Crowns (c. 18.000 Euro) on 11 August when she performs in recital during this summer’s Birgit Nilsson Days.

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­From 6 – 12 August 2023 the Birgit Nilsson Days take place for the 6th consecutive year, opening with a public Master Class and closing with a large outdoor performance of “Tosca in Concert” at the Birgit Nilsson Museum. Puccini is also the theme of the museum’s new exhibition which opens on 27 June and is entitled “Puccini, Passion and Art”. …

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Yo-Yo Ma became the fifth recipient and first instrumentalist to be presented the Birgit Nilsson Prize by His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf at the official Award Ceremony in Stockholm yesterday evening …

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Stockholm is preparing to welcome Yo-Yo Ma to receive the 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize and audiences worldwide are invited to join the Prize Ceremony, streamed live for free on Konserthuset Play …

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Birgit Nilsson Foundation President, Susanne Rydén, announced today that the 2022 Birgit Nilsson Prize will be awarded to cellist Yo-Yo Ma. At one million US dollars, the Prize is the largest in classical music, …

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The 2022 Birgit Nilsson Stipendium is awarded to the Swedish lyric dramatic soprano, Cornelia Beskow, who receives 200.000 SEK (equivalent to $20.000) on August 12 when she will perform in Birgit Nilsson’s parish church at Västra Karup, as a part of the celebrations for this year’s “Birgit Nilsson Days”. …

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2021 Birgit Nilsson Stipendium awarded to soprano, Johanna Wallroth …. Birgit Nilsson Days (9-14 August) with masterclasses …. Birgit Nilsson Stiftelsen launches a new website …. Birgit Nilsson Museum re-opens …

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The 2020 Birgit Nilsson Scholarship is awarded to 30 year old Swedish Mezzo-Soprano, Emma Sventelius who receives 200.000 SEK on August 7 in Västra Karup, Skåne, when she will perform in recital as a part of the celebrations for this year’s Birgit Nilsson Days, hosted by the Birgit Nilsson Museum …

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Birgit Nilsson Foundation President Rutbert Reisch announced today in Stockholm that the Birgit Nilsson Prize for 2018 will be awarded to Nina Stemme. The Prize Award Ceremony will take place in the presence of Their Majesties King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia on October 11, 2018 …

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On Tuesday, May 15, 2018 at a press conference at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden, the fourth recipient of the BIRGIT NILSSON PRIZE will be revealed. The Prize itself will be awarded in Stockholm at The Royal Opera House on October 11, 2018, with a general overview of the gala event being announced at the May 15 press conference …

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Birgit Nilsson Foundation President Rutbert Reisch announced today that the Birgit Nilsson Prize for 2014 will be awarded to the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at the Konserthuset (Stockholm Concert Hall) in Stockholm, Sweden on October 8, 2014 …

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Birgit Nilsson Foundation President Rutbert Reisch announced today that the Birgit Nilsson Prize for 2011 will be awarded to laureate Riccardo Muti at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, Sweden on October 13, 2011 in the presence of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and H.M. Queen Silvia …

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