XII Tallinn Winter Festival 19th – 23rd of February 2019
Tallinn Town Hall
21st February at 7pm
Olga Zaitseva (soprano),
Michael Hyokun Ha (tenore, Korea),
Piia Paemurru (piano)
Programme: Donizetti, Puccini, Ponchielli etc
Tickets 12€/7€
OLGA ZAITSEVA
has finished from Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre with a bachelor’s degree in the singing class of lect. Pille Lill and prof. Jaakko Ryhäneni and she has attained her master’s degree from the Pedagogy of Interpretation majoring in singing. She has furthered her skills in the master classes of Ingrid Kremling, Elizabeth Wilke and Yandwiga Rappé in Poland. Zaitseva has won the I prize in the St. Petersburg contest “Song has the face of a woman” (2008), spezial prize in the III and VII international contest “Opera, the soul of mountains” in Poland (2008 and 2012), two special prizes in the 2nd National Vocal Contest dedicated to Vello Jürna (2012). In 2015 Olga Zaitseva was given a Crystal Shoe Award from the Estonian Theatre Union for being a “young person in theatre who has accomplished first significant theatrical works” for the performances of Almirena – Georg Friedrich Händel’s “Rinaldo” and Giannetta – Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “L’elisir d’amore” (both in Estonian National Opera).
Her repertoire of opera roles includes Almirena, Donna, Mermaid (Händel’s „Rinaldo“), Giannetta (Donizetti’s „L’elisir d’amore“), II flower girl (Wagner’s „Parsifal“), shepherd girl (Ravel „The Child and the Spells“), Tebaldo (Verdi „Don Carlo“), Frasquita (Bizet „Carmen“), Sacerdotessa (Verdi „Aida“), Barbarina (Mozart „Le nozze di Figaro“). During a concert performance she has sung the role of Kupava (Rimski-Korsakov „The Snow Maiden“) and the soprano part of Fauré’s Requiem Op. 48.
MICHAEL HYOKUN HA
is a South Korean born tenor, who began his studies in singing at Hanyang University in Seoul and continued his studies at the State University of Music in Freiburg and at the University Mozarteum Salzburg. He has attended master classes with Margreet Honig, Dame Gwyneth Jones and Rudolf Knoll at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg and received further impetus from such Italian maestri as Gianfranco Cecchele, Nicola Martinucci as well as Mietta Sighele. After receiving his master’s degree in 2012, he was engaged in the Staatstheater Braunschweig, where he has performed a variety of roles, including Nemorino (Donizetti “L’elisir d’amore”), Tamino (Mozart “The Magic Flute”), Aquilio (Vivaldi “Farnace”), Il Duca di Mantova (Verdi “Rigoletto”), Canio (Leoncavallo “Pagliacci”), Turiddu (Mascagni “Cavalleria rusticana”) etc. In 2017/18 he guested as Nemorino with the Danish National Opera. M. Ha has sung at the UNICEF Gala in Cologne, Germany and he appeared at the New Year’s Gala of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra in January 2018 with famous opera arias. M. Ha is a grant recipient of the Richard Wagner Association and in 2018 he was awarded the “Riccardo Zandonai Prize” for the best interpretation of an aria by the composer of the same name at the “XXV Riccardo Zandonai Competition” in Riva del Garda (Italy). He won the T.O.S.C.A competition in Andora (Italy) the same year.
PIIA PAEMURRU
is one of the most valued ensemble partners is Estonia mostly for opera singers, but concert activity has brought her together with several outstanding musicians like E. Hannan, R. Achieng, V. Noreika, J. Ryhänen, M. Voites, M. Palm, P. Lill, N. Kurem, H.-L. Võsa, O. Kuusik, A. Saal, K. Plaas, M. Melnik, P. Volmer, A. Mikk, R. Soom, T. Jõks, H. Lokuta, P. Püvi, A. Klas-Fagerlund, M. Tampere-Bezrodny, P. Paemurru, A.-L. Bezrodny, A. Lend, V. Vurm etc. She graduated from the Tallinn Con-servatory (prof. Laine Mets, MA 1999) and in 1986 she began working at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre’s Vocal Department as a piano accompanist. P. Paemurru has often played as a piano soloist and as a part of different ensembles in the Baltics, Scandinavia, Germany and Russia. She has been rewarded with the Special Prize for the best piano accompanist at several singing com-petitions, including five times at the International K. Taev Singing Contest in Pärnu. In cooperation with the Swedish singer Ingegerd Björklund she has recorded two CD-s and a CD with Marje Sink’s Christmas songs has been released with soloists Pille Lill, Aare Saal and Oliver Kuusik (PLMF, 2006).
