The artist
In focus.
- Freelancer
- Finnish National Opera; Royal Danish Opera; Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari; Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe; Opéra National de Lyon; Semperoper Dresden; La Monnaie – De Munt.
Finnish soprano Helena Juntunen combines an international operatic career with a substantial concert and recording profile. Her recent work places particular emphasis on twentieth-century opera, contemporary Finnish works and the music of Sibelius. In 2026, she sang Solveig in the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s Morgonstjärnan at Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. Her engagements that year also include Patricia in Kaija Saariaho’s Innocence at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen.
Ms. Juntunen’s recent stage work includes Salome in Wuppertal in 2024 and 2025, Leonore in Fidelio at Teatro Petruzzelli in Bari in 2024, and Marie in Wozzeck at Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe in 2021 and 2023. Her wider repertoire encompasses Countess Almaviva and Donna Elvira in Lyon, Clara in Der Zwerg, Marietta in Die tote Stadt and the title role in Káťa Kabanová at Opéra National de Lorraine, as well as Greta Graumann in Der ferne Klang in Strasbourg and Marie/Marietta at Theater Basel.
On the concert platform, Sibelius remains central to Ms. Juntunen’s work. She sang Luonnotar and songs with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in 2025, following Sibelius songs with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2024. Her recent engagements also include Mahler’s Second Symphony with the Helsinki Philharmonic in 2025 and the Lapland Chamber Orchestra in 2026, and Strauss’s Vier letzte Lieder with the Seoul Philharmonic in 2024. Kullervo with Copenhagen Phil is announced for February 2027. Her recordings for Ondine and BIS include the first orchestral recordings of Sibelius’s Höstkväll and Hertig Magnus.
A regular guest at Finnish National Opera since 1999, Ms. Juntunen has sung Zdenka, Sophie, Mimì, Pamina and Rosalinde there, alongside roles in world premieres by Jüri Reinvere and Sebastian Fagerlund. Pamina has also taken her to Aix-en-Provence under Daniel Harding, La Monnaie under René Jacobs, Geneva, the Wiener Festwochen, Theater an der Wien and Dresden. Her breakthrough as Marguerite in Faust at Savonlinna in 2002 was followed by debuts at Connecticut Opera, Teatro Carlo Felice in Genoa, Vlaamse Opera and Semperoper Dresden in 2003/04, and concerts at Carnegie Hall and in Tokyo. Earlier orchestral collaborations include the Berliner Philharmoniker, BBC Symphony Orchestra and Royal Stockholm Philharmonic.
Ms. Juntunen began her vocal studies with Airi Tokola at Oulu Conservatoire and earned her Master of Music at the Sibelius Academy with Anita Välkki. She won the women’s division of the Lappeenranta Singing Competition in 2002 and received the Karita Mattila Prize in 2006.
On stage
Artistry, in motion.
Bezduz and Juntunen sing "O Soave Fanciulla"
Selected recordingWatch on YouTube ↗Helena Juntunen - Sibelius
Selected recordingWatch on YouTube ↗From the agency journal
Beyond the profile.
Recent Kanttila Management posts featuring Helena Juntunen.
TOI TOI TOI!
🎉 The biggest TOI TOI TOI to soprano Helena Juntunen for tonight’s premiere of "Innocence" at The Royal Danish Opera, where she appears as the Mother-in-Law! 🍾🍾🍾
Kanttila Management's November in review(s)!
Check out some of the awesome work our artists have done in the past month! 👉 🔩Catherine Daniel's fabulous Mrs. Grose in Turn of the Screw enraptured Opera Canada @catherine_daniel_ Photo: David Cooper Photography 🎶 Helena Juntunen brought Sibelius to life with the Birmingham Symphony @helenajuntunensoprano Photo: Jean Attard 💑 Baris Yavuz gave us even more reason to love Guglielmo in Der Opernfreund @borosyovoz Photo: Claudia Heysel 🤡 Georgian tenor Zurab Zurabishvili impresses Operaworld.es with his interpretation of Canio in Pagliacci. @zurabzurabishvili ⛵Brett Sprague is ✨perfect✨ as Peter Grimes in Opern Welt @brett_sprague Photo: Emanuel Ammon ❄️ Director Emily Hehl puts on a La Bohème to be remembered in Theater Coburg @emily.hehl Photos: Taeseok Oh Did you see any of our amazing artists this month?
It's not everyday we hear Jean Sibelius performed by a Finnish native-speaker, and when you do..
you just want to share it with the world 😍 So, that's what we did - at least the small Kanttila Management corner of the world. Kanttila Management Artist soprano Helena Juntunen helps bring this fantastic music by Sibelius, and her recent concerts with the Birmingham Symphony as "a compelling actor, she threw herself into three of the composer’s finest orchestral songs, her body contorting with emotion as the audience hung on her every crystal clear syllable." - 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯. Check out the full review in our stories! Here she performs Sibelius' Flickan kom ifrån sin älsklings möte (𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳) during a Gala for culture.
We are thrilled to announce that Bass Janne Sihvo, the winner of this year’s Lappeenranta Singing Competition, has officially joined the roster of Kanttila Management!
The Lappeenranta Singing Competition is Finland’s most prestigious national singing contest, with former winners such as Karita Mattila, Soile Isokoski, Jorma Hynninen, Camilla Nylund, Helena Juntunen, and Suvi Väyrynen, all of whom have gone on to enjoy significant international careers. This year’s competition showcased an exceptionally high level of talent, and for the first time since Martti Talvela’s legendary victory in 1960, a bass has claimed the first prize. Keep the name Janne Sihvo in mind — you will undoubtedly be hearing much more about this talented young bass in the future! 🎥 Click the link below to watch the final round of the Lappeenranta Singing Competition. Janne Sihvo’s performance starts at 44:05: https://areena.yle.fi/1-72618472?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=areena-ios-share Janne Sihvo Kanttila Management #lappeenrannanlaulukilpailu #jannesihvo #laulukilpailunvoittaja #lappeenranta #Siba #kansallisooppera