Grandi Voci: Kerstin Avemo

Kerstin Avemo & Karin Holm

Entartete Musik – songs and music that was banned in the 1930s by the government of Nazi Germany.

Coloratura soprano Kerstin Avemo is an exceptional interpreter with an expressive voice that captivates audiences in complex roles on Swedish and international opera stages.

Kerstin Avemo’s unforgettable roles at the Göteborg Opera include Lucia (di Lammermoor), Violetta (La traviata), Elle in La voix humaine, Nelly in Mytomania and the three heroines Olympia, Antonia and Giulietta in Les contes d'Hoffmann. She debuted at the Göteborg Opera in the title role in Alban Berg’s Lulu, leading to an explosive breakthrough that earned her the Svenska Dagbladet Opera Prize and the Tidskriften Opera Prize.

In spring 2025, Gothenburg audiences can also encounter her in Mozart’s comic singspiel, Der Schauspieldirektor, which is double-billed with Tchaikovsky’s Iolanta. Here she portrays a near-hysterical opera diva with glass-shattering high notes.

What critics say about Kerstin Avemo:

“Kerstin Avemo [moves] with ease high above the stave, delivering stratospheric notes that may never have been heard before on an opera stage.” Svenska Dagbladet

“Black becomes luminescent. Kerstin Avemo gets life and death to change places.” Dagens Nyheter

The pianist is Karin Holm, Avemo’s musical partner in her staging of Schönberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. As répétiteur and coach at the Göteborg Opera, Karin Holm has worked with a great number of acclaimed singers and conductors.