Heli Veskus

Heli Veskus studied at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and the Sibelius Academy. The Estonian soprano was a 1998 finalist at the Estonian Con Brio festival and competition for young musicians, and also a recipient of such prizes as the Harjumaa Theatre Prize (2003), the annual Estonian Theatre Award (2004) and the Georg Ots Prize (2008), as well as a scholarship from the Estonian Richard Wagner Society (2005).

She is principal soloist of the Estonian National Opera. Since her debut with the company as Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) in 1999, she has sung such parts as Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte), Agathe (Der Freischütz), Helmwige (Die Walküre), Micaëla (Carmen), Mimì (La bohème), Tatyana (Eugen Onegin), Amelia (Un ballo in maschera), Antonia (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Desdemona (Otello), as well as Isolde (Tristan und Isolde), Elisabeth/Venus (Tannhäuser), Leonora (Il trovatore), Grose (The Turn of the Screw) and the title roles in Jüri Reinvere’s opera The Purge, Manon Lescaut and Tosca. With her exceptional and colourful voice she is now on her way to an international career. In the 2015/16 season, Veskus is performing in Tallinn, singing the Lady (Cardillac), Micaela, Mimì, Elisabeth/Venus as well as the title parts in Aida and Tosca. Furthermore, she is guesting with Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the opening of the 20th Ludwig van Beethoven Easter Festival in Warsaw. The highlights of her concert appearances include Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Max Bruch’s Moses, Wagner’s Wesendonk Lieder, Berg’s Sieben Frühe Lieder and Dvořák’s Requiem. She is also passionately devoted to Lied recitals.