Sofie Asplund

The brilliant coloratura soprano Sofie Asplund previous season included two roles at the Göteborg Opera; Zerlina in Don Giovanni and La Folie in Rameau’s Platée. Sofie was also a guest at the Norwegian National Opera where she appeared as Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide. Sofie will this season sing Niece 1 in Peter Grimes at the Göteborg Opera and Cleopatra in Händel’s Giulio Cesare at the Royal Swedish Opera.

Sofie Asplund has since several years been engaged as a guest soloist at the Göteborg Opera where she has appeared in roles such as Susanna in Le nozze di Figaro, Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Aminta in Die schweigsame Frau, Gilda in Rigoletto, Musetta in La Bohème, Gretel in Hänsel und Gretel, Waldvogel in Siegfried and The Foster Sister in the opera Herr Arnes Penningar/Sir Arne’s Treasure by Gösta Nystroem.

Sofie Asplund has been a frequent guest at the Royal Swedish Opera where she has sung Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos, Constance in Dialogues des carmélites, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Susanna and Barbarina in Le Nozze di Figaro, Olga Sukarev in Giordano’s Fedora and Oscar in Un ballo in Maschera. 

Sofie has appeared at the Norwegian National Opera’s production of Rigoletto as Gilda, she has sung Arianna in Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at the Drottningholm Palace Theatre and she has sung Erste Magd in Daphne at Staatsoper Hamburg and at the Opera in Basel.

In 2019, Sofie participated in Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium young artists’ project where she sang Anne Trulove in The Rake’s Progress. The project included semi-staged performances in Munich with the Münchner Philharmoniker, as well as on a European tour with the Ludwig Orchestra visiting Paris, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Dresden and Dortmund, all performances led by Barbara Hannigan.

Sofie has been a guest at the Malmö Opera where she has sung Oscar, Sophie in Der Rosenkavalier and Pousette in Manon. She has appeared as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Vixen in The cunning little vixen at the Läckö Castle and as Carolina in Il matrimonio segreto at the Drottningholm Court Theatre. At the Vadstena Academy, Sofie has sung Lydia in Pride and Prejudice and Laura in Star Cross'd lovers. She has also sung Eurydice in Orphée aux Enfers by Offenbach in a staged concert in Uppsala together with the Drottningholm baroque ensemble. Sofie has performed two world premieres at Alandica in Åland; the title role in Lisbeta, a role especially written for Ms. Asplund by Karólina Eiriksdóttirs, and the opera Djävulsdansen i Skarpans where she sung the role of Agatha Sipelius.

Sofie Asplund’s concert repertoire include Mozart’s Requiem, the Coronation Mass, Exultate Jubilate and Mass in C minor. She has sung Bach’s Magnificat, St John’s passion and St. Matthew passion, The Creation by Haydn, Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater, Orff’s Carmina Burana, Les Illuminations by Britten, Brahms’ Ein Deutsches Requiem and God in Disguise by Lars-Erik Larsson.

Sofie Asplund has also appeared in musical theatre roles including Maria in West Side Story (The Göteborg Opera) and Christine in The Phantom of the Opera, which she has performed both at the Finland National Opera and at the Göteborg Opera.

In 2021 Sofie released her first solo album with Britten’s Les illuminations och Debussy’s Ariettes Oubliées (Naxos), an album that was nominated for the Swedish Grammis award.

Sofie Asplund graduated from the Royal College of Opera in Stockholm in 2013. In 2018 Sofie was the first winner of the new singing competition the Schymberg Award. Sofie has been awarded the Sten A Olsson culture scholarship of 2018 and the Rosenborg-Gehrmansscholarship of 2015. In 2013 she was recipient of both Anders Wall and Birgit Nilsson scholarships. Sofie has also received scholarships from the Royal Music Academy of Sweden and the Drottningholm Court Theatre. 

In 2022 Sofie was awarded the merit medal the Order of the White Rose of Finland for her accomplishments as an opera singer.

September 2024