LEAD Foundation

✨ Soloist spotlight ✨

One of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Karen Cargill, is the amazing soloist in our collaborative project with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra for Mahler's 3rd Symphony. We are also happy to have Karen join us again in the Fiskars Summer Festival 2026, where she'll be the soloist for our Festival Finale-concert and the Open House-concert 🤩

Described as having a voice that “dazzles” with a “treacle-rich middle register” and a “full and rich top,” Karen Cargill has established herself as one of the leading singers of her generation, with upcoming engagements at the Metropolitan Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Dutch National Opera, Canadian Opera Company, and Norwegian National Opera.

Equally celebrated on the concert stage, she regularly collaborates with conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Daniel Harding, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Robin Ticciati, Rafael Payare, and Edward Gardner. Highlights of her 25/26 season include Judith in Bluebeard’s Castle at the Canadian Opera Company, Adelaide in Arabella at the Metropolitan Opera, performances of Pelléas et Mélisande, Götterdämmerung, Mahler Symphonies 2 & 3, and La Damnation de Faust with leading orchestras across Europe and North America.

Recent seasons have included acclaimed performances at Glyndebourne, with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and San Diego Symphony.

With recital partner Simon Lepper, Karen has performed at Wigmore Hall, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall, and has recorded acclaimed albums for Linn Records. She is also Patron of the National Girls’ Choir of Scotland and sang at the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for King Charles III in 2023.

✨ We want to remind you that tickets to all concerts of Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 are on sale in Tiketti! ✨

Our Open House concert this year is the Young conductors’ concert on Friday, July 31st, where the conducting students of the annual masterclass will lead the acclaimed Fiskars Festival Orchestra in a programme of Mozart, Sibelius, Britten and Beethoven. The two soloists of the concert are rising Finnish star violinist Otto Antikainen, and one of the leading mezzo-sopranos of her generation, Karen Cargill.

See the programme for all concerts and reserve your seat here: www.leadfoundationfinland.com/fiskars

✨ Soloist Spotlight ✨

We are proud to welcome Otto Antikainen, one of Finland’s most exciting rising violinists, to the Fiskars Summer Festival 2026!

Otto Antikainen is a Finnish violinist known both as an orchestral soloist and chamber musician. He has appeared as a soloist with several Finnish orchestras and will perform next season with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra and the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.

As a chamber musician, Antikainen has performed at festivals including Kuhmo Chamber Music and has received recognition in several international violin competitions. In the 2025 Sibelius Violin Competition, he was the only Finnish violinist to reach the finals among the top six competitors.

He performs on a 1760 Giovanni Battista Guadagnini violin kindly loaned by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.

Photo credit: Tuomas Tenkanen

Tickets for the Fiskars Summer Festival 2026 concerts are on sale on Tiketti! Click the link to reserve your seat: https://www.tiketti.fi/fiskars-summer-festival-2026-fiskars-fiskars-lippuja/114614

A friendly reminder to all conductors, that we are accepting applications for our brand new LEAD! Lab in London! ✨

Join us for two days of conversation and music centred on Brahms and the art of leadership. The LEAD! Foundation and Fidelio Cafe bring together young conductors, industry professionals and audiences for talks, discussions and live musical insights.

Register now: www.leadfoundationfinland.com/lead-labs

Jukka-Pekka Saraste photo credit: Felix Broede