Iida Antola

Soprano Iida Antola (born 1990) graduated as a choir conductor from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki in 2015 before continuing her studies in solo voice at the University of the Arts in Berlin. Antola has completed Masters exams in Choir conducting, solo piano and solo voice.

In the 2017-2018 season Antola made her professional debut as Pamina (Mozart: Die Zauberflöte) at the Finnish National Opera. In the season 2018-2019 she will be performing the role of Christine in the FNO production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, and also the role of Crobyle in Massenet’s opera Thaïs. Her other roles include Dido (Purcell: Dido and Aeneas), Clorinda (Rossini: La Cenerentola), Poppea (Monteverdi: L’incoronazione di Poppea), La suora infermiera (Puccini: Suor Angelica) and Annina (Verdi: La Traviata).

Antola has been successful in both national and international competitions. In 2017, Antola won 1st prize at the Kangasniemi Singing Competition in Finland and 2nd prize at the International Paula Salomon-Lindberg Competition “Das Lied”. In 2018 she was a finalist in both the International Hugo Wolf Lied competition in Stuttgart and the International Schubert Lied Duo competition in Dortmund with pianist Anni Laukkanen. She also won 2nd prize at national Helsinki Lied competition in 2018 with pianist Fanny Söderström. In summer 2015, Iida both sang in the finals of the Timo Mustakallio singing competition in Savonlinna, as well as being awarded the prize for the most promising young choir conductor at the Tampere Vocal Music Festival.

Antola has sung as soloist in many oratorios, such as The Messiah (Handel), Requiem (Mozart), The Seasons (Haydn), Nelson-messe (Haydn) and Paukenmesse (Haydn). She also has lots of experience with contemporary music, and recently performed Pierrot Lunaire by Schoenberg at the “Kaivos festival” in Finland. She has also premiered music in the Klang! Festival in Helsinki, and can be heard as soloist on several recordings, including Veli-Matti Puumala’s opera Anna-Liisa (Ondine 2015), the Bergmaniana male choir recording (Alba 2016), as well as the Helsinki Chamber Choir’s Bergman recording (BIS 2017). Publisher Sulasol publishes Antola’s own compositions.

In Finland, Antola began her voice studies with her aunt, Aulikka Eerola, followed by masterclasses and private lessons with Marjut Hannula. Since 2015 she has been in Berlin studying with Prof. Elisabeth Werres at the Universität der Künste (UdK). At UdK, her first specialisation was in lied, working with teachers such as pianist Hendrik Heilmann, Prof. Eric Schneider and Prof. Axel Bauni. Antola has given concerts with her lied partner Daria Tudor at the Crescendo festival in Berlin, the Mozart festival in Würzburg as well as in Romania at the Ateneum in Bucharest and the Philharmonie in Ploiesti. From 2018, Antola continues her studies at UdK majoring in opera.

Antola studied choir conducting in Finland with Timo Nuoranne and Prof. Matti Hyökki as well as at Lyon Conservatory in France (CNSMD Lyon) under Prof. Nicole Corti. Antola’s strength as a choir conductor comes not only from her piano skills and wide musical perceptiveness, but also through her use of singing technique as a path to better choral singing. Antola has worked as chorus master for many Sibelius Academy productions (Ravel: L’enfant et les sortileges, Rossini: Il viaggio a Reims, Aho: Frida y Diego, Puccini: La Boheme) and from 2013-2015 she was artistic director of Hämäläis-Osakunnan Laulajat (HOL), a high-level student choir. In 2015, HOL was awarded two golden stars at the international Tampere Vocal Music Festival choir review. Antola still conducts the female choir Valkeat Yöt Ensemble (White Nights Ensemble), founded by singers from the former Daughter of the Baltic youth choir. She is also an experienced singer of renaissance music, being a founding member of the English Vocal Consort of Helsinki.

Antola’s studies are supported by grants from the Olga & Vilho Linnamo foundation, the Selim Eskelin foundation, and the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Download CV in English (2018-10)

Download CV in German (2018-10)