CHRISTINA HERRESTHAL
«The performances in this chance to see world class opera at its best are outstanding. (…)
Student two (Lily) played by Christina af Klinteberg Herresthal, a chilling and challenging performance perfectly pitched.»
-Glam Adelaide, Adrian Barnes
Lilly (Student 2) in Innocence by Kaija Saariaho at Adelaide Festival/ South Australian Opera
"In an important role was the mezzo-soprano Christina Herresthal, whose dark timbre suited the baroque works as much as the colors of the chamber ensemble.
She was, as interpreter of the dramatic elements, polishedly intense and anchored the meta-level – the place of women in history – in our present.
Particularly impressive was, in addition to the concert’s title piece, Antonia Bembo’s frantic Mi basta cosí."
-Turun Sanomat
Songs of Judith with The Finnish Baroque Orchestra at Turku Music Festival
CHRISTINA HERRESTHAL
Léonie Sonning Talent Prize recipient Christina Sofia af Klinteberg Herresthal is a Swedish-Norwegian Mezzo Soprano, particularly passionate about chamber music, baroque repertoire, contemporary composers and opera.
Herresthal is currently enjoying exciting operatic debuts as “Lilly” in Innocence (Kaija Saariaho/Oksanen/Barrière) for the original Simon Stone production at Adelaide Festival/State Opera South Australia, with Adelaide Symphony Orchestra conducted by Clément Mao-Takacs, and 2nd woman/1st witch in Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) at Herning Opera Festival with Ensemble MidtVest, as well as her debut as alto solist in Sfærenes Musik (Langaard) with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Fabio Luisi, alto solist debut in The Christmas Oratorio (Bach) with David Ridell and The Danish Sinfonietta, in addition to her solist debut in the semistaged “Songs of Judith” (Jaquet de la Guerre ++)for Turku Music Festival with The Finnish Baroque Orchestra. Herresthal is also the 2025 Rising Star of the Schackenborg Festival, performing in several concerts during the festival.
Previous highlights include singing the alto solo in a Mezzo TV live-streamed concert of St John’s Passion (Bach) with OrkesterNord and Martin Wåhlberg, as well as her 2022 operatic debut as Ishara in Nørgård’s “Gilgamesh” with Ensemble Esbjerg. This was followed by her 2023 debut as Johanna/The Eye in Peters/Vavrec’s “Three Amputators” with Arctic Philharmonic conducted by Ben Palmer, and her 2024 debut as “Drømmerhandsken” in Katinka Fogh Vindelev/Ida Marie Hede´s “Hologrammet” with David Ridell and The Danish Sinfonietta.
A passionate chamber musician, Herresthal frequently tours with The Baroque Society, with her own ensemble Hehku and as a duo with lutenist/baroque guitarist Fredrik Bock and lutenist Erik Skanke Høsøien. Further cooperations include singing with Nordic Baroque, The Finnish Baroque Orchestra, Concerto Copenhagen, Nordic String Quartet and Bjarke Mogensen.
Herresthal is also working with composer Maya Miro Johnson on an in progress opera entitled Patience concerning the genius and suffering of artists in female-assigned bodies who experience psycho-physiological torment in the health care system because of their biological sex, with the main role being tailor written for Herresthal ́s voice. Herresthal has also sung for composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Missy Mazzoli and Per Nørgård.
In August 2024, Herresthal completed her Master Degree in Classical Singing with the highest possible grade from The Royal Danish Academy of Music, studying with Susanna Eken and Tuva Semmingsen. In her studies of historical practice and Baroque Music, Herresthal has received guidance from specialists such as Emma Kirkby, Lars Ulrik Mortensen, Alice Foccroulle, Marianne Beate Kielland, Anders Dahlin and Tuuli Lindeberg. Additionally, Herresthal was a member of The Norwegian National Opera´s Children’s Choir from age 7 to 17, performing both as a soloist in Children Operas and as part of the Children’s Choir in Main stage productions.
Herresthal was a 2024 recepient of the prestigious Léonie Sonning Talent Prize, and is grateful to have received grants from Kungliga Musikaliska Akademins stipendier, Lillystiftelsen, Fegersten Foundation , Helge Axsson Foundation, Wilhelmsen Foundation, Signe Butenschøn Foundation, Sveaas Foundation, Poul and Ellen Herz Foundation and Feldthusen Foundation.