Iris Candelaria is a Finnish/Spanish soprano who graduated from the Sibelius Academy Opera program under the tutelage of Annika Ollinkari in 2022. Iris’ opera roles in the Sibelius Academy's opera program include Suzel in Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz, The Bear in Uljas Pulkkis' All the Truths We Cannot See: A Chernobyl Story, Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte, Miss Wordsworth in Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring and Servilia in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito.
Iris frequently performs with the Helsinki-based interdisciplinary cultural group Eloa. In the summer of 2020 she performed in a recital with pianist Matleena Nyman at Helsinki fest, which was broadcast on Finnish National Broadcasting company YLE.
In 2022, she sang Queen of the Night/The Magic Flute at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki and will return in the same role for the revival in 2023. In addition, in the Summer of 2023 she will sing the role of Pamina at the Savonlinna Opera Festival.
Iris Candelaria won the 1st prize in the prestigious Timo Mustakallio competition (2019), the audience award in the Havets röst competition (2021), as well as 1st prize and the audience award at the Lappeenranta singing competition (2023).
In 2023, Iris was chosen for the Finnish National Opera's new Young Singers' Programme, beginning with the new season 2023/24 and for the following two seasons. She will sing a selection of important roles on the main stage.
Luke Terence Scott is a Scottish baritone whom has recently graduated with a Masters of Music in Opera from the Sibelius Academy under the tutelage of Hannu Niemelä. Scott is also an alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and the Royal Northern College of Music.
Scott’s operatic roles include the world debut of Borys Slykovtich in Uljas Pulkkis’s opera All the Truths We Cannot See performed both in Helsinki and Los Angeles, David L’amico Fritz, Sid Albert Herring, Guglielmo Cosìfan tutte, Ben The Telephone and City Marshall Henry Street Scene. Scott had in 2023 his debut at Savonlinna Opera festival as Paris in Roméo et Juliette.
On the concert and competition stages, Scott was heard at the Palais Garnier in France, where he was a finalist in the 7th edition of the Paris Opera Competition. Familiar in competitions, he has been a finalist in the Havets Röst, Elizabeth Harwood Prize and a semi-finalist in the Vincerò World Singing Competition, Hjördis Schymberg Award and Helsinki Lied. He has sung as a soloist for Savonlinna opera
festival, Sinfonia Lahti, Buxton International Festival, London Symphony Orchestra’s CommunityChoir and Sibelius Academy Symphony Orchestra.
Throughout his career so far and whilst being a Young Artist at Buxton International Festival, he has had the pleasure of working with conductors such as Markus Lehtinen, Adrian Kelly, Stephen Barlow, Nickolas Kok, Chloé Dufresne and Pierre-Michel Durand amongst others.
Scott has participated in Masterclasses with Patrick Fournillier, Jorma Hynninen, Soile Isokoski, Juha Uusitalo, Kevin Murphy, Kamal Khan, Sir Mark Elder, Sir John Tomlinson and Roderick Williams OBE.
Scott is proud to have had his studies and career generously supported by the Finnish National Opera foundation, Taike, the Martin Wegelius Foundation, Selim Eskelin Foundation, Oopperan Kummit RY, Scottish International Education Trust, Caird Trust, the Leverhulme Trust and finally, the Hope Scott Trust.
Despite her young age, violinist Tami Pohjola has already won both international and national competitions and performed around Europe. Her humble attitude to music has been praised by the classical music audiences. She won first prize in the International Dinu Lipatti Violin Competition in 2019 and in the Kuopio Violin Competition in 2015. She also won the International Young Musician Competition in Estonia in 2009 and was second in the Juhani Heinonen Violin Competition in Jyväskylä, in the Junior Category in 2009 and as a Senior in 2012.
Pohjola has performed as a soloist with among others the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, Lohja City Orchestra, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Hyvinkää City Orchestra, Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, Pori Sinfonietta and Kuopio
Symphony Orchestra. Year 2021 will begin with Joensuu City Orchestra at Joensuu Music Winter festival in February. She is also an active chamber musician.
Tami Pohjola started playing the violin when she was three years old and she studied with Grazyna Zeranska-Gebert in the Espoo Music Institute and then with Réka Szilvay at the Sibelius Academy. Since then, Tami has studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich with Mi-kyung Lee and currently she studies in Sion at Haute École de Musique Valais with Janine Jansen. Pohjola plays a Guadagnini violin (1754) owned by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
In October 2022 Tami had her debut in the UK with The Hallé orchestra in Manchester playing Sibelius' Violin Concerto.