Finn Lily Paasikivi is the director of the Bregenz Festival

Responsible for technical direction

Paasikivi is responsible for the Foundation’s technical direction and program design. In 2019, I started the Opera Beyond project here to combine opera and ballet with new technical applications. At the same time, Paasikivi has decades of experience with what it’s like to stand on the chalkboard that means the world. From 1998 to 2013 she was a permanent house soloist.

For example, she sang Frika in the “Ring des Nibelungen” and also sang Carmen or Amneris in “Aida” at the Finnish National Opera. The mezzo-soprano has performed internationally in a wide variety of contexts, working with the best conducting syndicates – from Paavo Järvi to Simon Rattle to compatriot Esa-Pekka Salonen.

There are recordings of her great compatriot Jean Sibelius and last but not least Gustav Mahler that occupy a special place in her work. Last but not least, Paasikivi made a name for herself as an interpreter of the great composer’s song cycles.

At the same time, Paasikivi got involved early in staging classical circuses. The artist, who was born on July 22, 1965 in Imatra, just on the Russian border, founded the Sydänkesän säveliä festival in 2016 and was the artistic director of the Pyhäniemen Kartano concert series from 2010 to 2015.

Paasikivić’s commitment has not been appreciated in her home country, where the singer has been a recipient of the Pro Finlandia medal of the Order of the Finnish Lion since 2008. Since 2017 she has been allowed to call herself her leader.