Iris Candelaria

As a prizewinner of numerous competitions and recipient of the highly endowed Finnish Cultural Foundation Award 2026, the young Finnish-Spanish soprano Iris Candelaria is one of the greatest rising talents of the new generation of singers. She impresses with exceptional musicality, a velvety timbre and a natural stage presence.

Following her successful debut as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro at the Savonlinna Opera Festival 2026, Iris will also sing this role at the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki in the 2026/27 season. She will also sing the title role in Cavalli’s La Calisto as part of a collaboration between the FNO and the Finnish Baroque Orchestra FiBo. She will furthermore be heard as a soloist in various concerts in Finland.

In summer 2027, she will make her debut in Savonlinna as Rosina in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

In 2022, Iris sang the Queen of the Night in Die Zauberflöte at the Finnish National Opera and in 2023 was selected for the FNO’s new young artist programme for the following two seasons, beginning with the 2023/24 season. Her roles at the FNO include, among others, Valencienne in Die lustige Witwe, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Adele in Die Fledermaus, Constance in Dialogues des Carmélites, Voce dal Cielo in Don Carlo, as well as the Artist in the world premiere of Sebastian Fagerlund’s Morgonstjärnan.

She also sang Pamina in Die Zauberflöte at the Savonlinna Opera Festival in 2023 and Zerlina in Don Giovanni in 2024, and in summer 2025 she was seen at the Bregenzer Festspiele as Antigone in Enescu’s Oedipe.

Iris Candelaria won first prize at the renowned Timo Mustakallio Competition (2019), the Audience Prize at the Havets röst Competition (2021), as well as first prize and the Audience Prize at the Lappeenranta Singing Competition (2023). She completed her studies at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Annika Ollinkari in 2022.