Participants 2026

Congratulations to all 8 winners! Information about winners is in progress.

All participate both in semi finale and finale and will get different prizes.

It is with great pride and eagerness we present the participants of the two live rounds of the Aria Borealis Bodø International Competition for Early Music Singers 2022.

Josefine Mindus

Swedish soprano Josefine Mindus has earned acclaim for her vibrant stage presence, vocal virtuosity, and fearless theatricality. In the 2024/25 season, she joined the ensemble of Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden, making her debut as Chief Gepopo in Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre, praised for her “effortless, nonsensical coloraturas to perfection” (FAZ). Her 2025/26 season includes several significant role debuts, including Ännchen (Der Freischütz), Despina (Così fan tutte), and the title role in Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Snow Maiden.

Her 2025/26 concert engagements include her debut with Ensemble United Berlin at the Konzerthaus Berlin under Vladimir Jurowski, Brett Dean’s Ophelia mad scene And Once I Played Ophelia at the Komische Oper Berlin, and arias by J.A. Hasse and J.C. Bach at the Kurhaus Wiesbaden with conductor Attilio Cremonesi.

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Antonia Ortner

The soprano Antonia Ortner grew up in Innervillgraten, Austria. She specializes in Renaissance and Baroque music, art song, contemporary music, and improvisation, and performs both as a singer and as a salterio/ dulcimer player in concerts, opera productions, and interdisciplinary performance formats. She collaborates with ensembles such as Armonico Tributo, Le Nuove Musiche, and the Bruckner Orchestra Linz.

As a founding member of TRIO RÁZNY, she participated in the Cimbalom World Congress, and she recorded the CD Mandora – The Lute of the Monasteries with the Biber Consort for the Panclassics label.

Ortner is a regular guest artist at vokal.isen Linz, the Rainbacher Evangelienspiele, and the Abendmusiken Basel, and is especially committed to her work with the interdisciplinary collective LICHTRISSE.

Most recently, she won both first and second prize at the 2024 BRISK Competition, which led to an invitation to perform at the Itinéraire Baroque Festival.

Maija Rautasuo

Maija Rautasuo is a coloratura soprano completing her Master of Music in Opera at the Sibelius Academy. Her operatic roles include Susanna (Le nozze di Figaro), Anna (Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor), Eurydike (Orphée aux enfers), and Madame Herz (Der Schauspieldirektor). She has also appeared as a soloist in major orchestral works such as Mozart’s Requiem, Orff’s Carmina Burana, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 8 with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra.

In addition to her performance career, Rautasuo holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Pedagogy and a Master of Arts in Education. She regularly performs in recitals with pianist Pinja Ukkola and has participated in prestigious competitions including the Lappeenranta Singing Competition.

Lucija Ercegovac

Lucija Ercegovac is a Croatian mezzosoprano with a versatile voice that moves easily across styles, combining warmth and carrying power with a rich, flexible depth.

During seasons 2022/23 and 2024/25 she made her debuts in Stadttheater Bern, in roles as Pauline in Offenbach’s La Vie parisienne, Rossweise in Die Walküre and Zweite Dame in Die Zauberflöte. In 2025 she performed as a soloist with Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, Hans-Christoph Rademann and Jos van Veldhoven. Alongside Zürcher Sing-Akademie and conductors as Paavo Järvi, René Jacobs and Florian Helgath, she has performed works from early classical to contemporary period, in major concert halls. Postgraduating at Academy of Music in Zagreb and Hochschule der Künste Bern, she was also educated by renowed musicians including Lisette Oropesa, Tanja Ariane Baumgartner, Alex Potter and Philippe Herreweghe.

Her 2025/26 season includes several productions with Jordi Savall, Le Concert des Nations and La Capella Nacional de Catalunya, including Vivaldi’s Gloria and Magnificat and Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito in Gran Teatre del Liceu.

Virgile Pellerin

Virgile Pellerin is a French countertenor with a rare blend of vocal richness, theatrical instinct, and fearless creativity. Trained at the CNSMDP in Paris under Yves Sotin, he moves seamlessly between early music and contemporary creation. His voice has been described in the press as having “an exceptional timbre, broad and powerful, with beautiful low notes, beautifully sustained high notes, and surprising fluidity.” Recent operatic highlights include Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the Fondation Royaumont and the Sorceress in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas at the Philharmonie de Paris.

Beyond the opera stage, Virgile is a passionate improviser and a committed explorer of new forms. He is a regular singer with ensembles such as Le Concert Spirituel and the CMBV, and he actively collaborates with composers on new works.

Martin Höhler

Recognized as a versatile tenor, Martin Höhler is active in the Stuttgart region and throughout Germany as a soloist and ensemble singer. He is known for focusing on early music and presenting thoughtfully curated song programs. With his early music ensemble con:solatio musicae he won second prize at the Orlando Di Lasso Competition at the Landshuter Hofmusiktage in 2025.
As a soloist, Martin has sung J.S. Bach’s great works several times. Most recently, he performed the Christmas Oratorio in Dublin , Irland, and the St John Passion in Velletri , Italy .
Several masterclasses have broadened his horizons and deepened his practical and theoretical knowledge of historically informed performance.

Lucas Zuehl

Lucas Zuehl is a bass-baritone currently pursuing a Master of Music in Early Sacred Voice, Art Song, & Oratorio at Yale University, following a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Brigham Young University. He has played Sarastro in “Die Zauberflöte,” Leporello in “Don Giovanni,” and Dr. Miracle in “Les Contes d’Hoffmann.” He has sung with famous groups like the Tanglewood Music Center, the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart, and the Spoleto Festival USA, where he has also been in the chorus.

Zuehl has taken part in masterclasses with famous artists like Elly Ameling, Robert Holl, Roger Vignoles, and Helmut Deutsch. He has won awards in competitions, such as first place in the NATS Lower College Central Utah District and an Encouragement Award from the Gerda Lissner Art Song/Lieder Competition. He has sung professionally with the Cathedral of the Madeleine Chapel Choir and the Los Angeles Master Chorale.

Mari Aschehoug

Norwegian soprano Mari Aschehoug has a charismatic stage presence and a natural passion for baroque music. She graduated from the Norwegian Academy of Music and developed her skills further at the Queen Sonja Opera Academy for young singers, and the Barock Vokal Akademie.

Mari sings a lot of baroque and classical music, and has been singing regularly with ensembles such as Barokkanerne, Oslo Circles, The Baroque Society in Copenhagen and Christiania Klangkollektiv. She’s worked with Laurence Cummings, Huw Daniel, Alexis Kossenko and Kati Debretzeni to name a few. Her repertoire also includes modern pieces like “Ella” in Rachel Peter and Royce Vavrek’s “Three Amputators”, which she premiered at the Arctic Chamber Music Festival at Svalbard. She has also sung Mahler’s 4th Symphony with both the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Arctic Philharmonic. Recently she was a soloist in two concerts of Händel’s Messiah in Oslo, led by Alfredo Bernardini.