Apply to the master’s programme in Opera
First joint application to higher education, spring 2025. Admissions schedule, required certificates and advance assignments as well as information about participating in the entrance examinations.
Degree studies in Opera are a part of the Classical Music Performance programme. Opera is the main subject only in the 2.5-year programme leading to a master’s degree.
Admissions schedule
NOTE! The next application period for this programme is scheduled for 2027. The admissions guide will be updated on this page in October-November 2026. The admissions requirements underneath are for the year 2025 and are no longer valid.
The Opera programme is arranged as a 2.5-year course, and the students are required to commit to the course. Opera majors who are accepted to the Sibelius Academy in the spring of 2025 will participate in the programme between 1 August 2025 and 31 December 2027 in accordance with a programme and schedule defined by the Sibelius Academy. If the student is unable to participate (due to health or other acceptable reasons) in the course or any part of it, supplementary attainments must be agreed upon with the Vocal Music department. The supplementary studies can include general master’s studies in vocal music.
Language requirements
The language of tuition in the Opera programme is English. You must demonstrate your language proficiency in English by the given deadline.
Opera entrance examination
The Opera programme has two selection groups:
- Selection group for soprano, mezzosoprano, alto, counter tenor, or similar
- Selection group for tenor, baritone, bass, or similar
On the application form, you must select the selection group in which you are applying. New students in both selection groups will be selected separately. The entrance examination is the same for both selection groups.
First stage: Advance assignments
Submit the following advance assignments to the Sibelius Academy via Studyinfo portal no later than at 3pm EET (Finnish time) on 29 January 2025:
- CV in English (max. two A4 pages), answering only the following questions:
- Your name
- Your previous music training (subject, teacher, when the subject(s) were studied, and school)
- Your previous experience in opera, theatre, and musical theatre productions
- Your level examinations (subject, level, date attained, grade, and school)
- Your previous courses and qualifications in music theory or other relevant subjects (subjects, grade, teacher, and school)
- Any other musical activities or practices in which you have been involved (e.g. teaching, participation in orchestras, choirs, operatic societies etc.)
- Your previous language studies
- Details of other degrees, qualifications, and studies
- Motivation essay in English (max. two A4 pages): “Why do I want to commit to the Sibelius Academy Opera programme and its productions for the years 2025–2027?”
- A video recording of your rendering of three (3) opera arias. One of the arias must be by Mozart, Haydn, Cimarosa, or Gluck. One of the arias must be sung in Italian, one in German. The arias must be sung in the original (and well-established) language and in the original (and well-established) key. A choice indicating versatility is recommended. All arias must be sung with accompaniment.
Each individual opera aria must be recorded in one take (as in a live performance), and the recordings of individual arias must not be edited. However, the video can be recorded in several takes and more than one space. The material must include information about the arias and the recording date, preferably as a separate PDF-file.
The video recording must be equivalent to an ordinary audition or recital so that you sing facing the camera and your entire body is visible on the screen. The video must not be shot from too far away. - A list of three (3) other opera arias that you are prepared to perform for the second stage of the entrance examination in March 2025. Once you submit the list of arias, it is not possible to change it.
You should be prepared to sing these arias in the original (and well-established) language, in the original (and well-established) key, and from memory. One of the arias can be from an operetta but not from a musical.
The Entrance Examination Board will choose the three (3) arias from the list of six (6) arias you have mentioned in your application to be performed in the second stage.
Based on the scores given for the first stage, the Board will invite a part of the applicants to the second stage of the entrance examination. Applicants will be informed of the first stage results by e-mail no later than on Friday 14 February 2025.
Second stage
The second stage of the entrance examination will be held between 4 and 5 March 2025 at the premises of the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland. You must be prepared to be present in person at the entrance examination on both days.
In the invitation to the entrance examination, Sibelius Academy will inform the applicants of the three (3) arias they are required to perform in the second stage of the entrance examination.
The second stage consists of the following sub-tests:
- Performance of three (3) opera arias that the Entrance Examination Board has chosen in advance from the list sent by you. The arias must be sung in the original (and well-established) language and in the original (and well-established) key. The arias are to be performed from memory.
- A free-choice monologue or other text prepared in advance and presented from memory, duration 2–3 minutes. The monologue/text can be performed in any language.
- An ensemble assignment (link to the sheet music will be sent in advance, no later than on Friday 14 February 2025). The musical entity with other singers of the ensemble will be sung through only once.
- A rehearsal situation (15–20 minutes) on one of the three arias that you have performed in the second stage of the entrance examination. The aria will be announced to you in advance.
The rehearsal situation includes work on musical, vocal, stylistic, and phonetic elements. The rehearsal situation might also include text analysis, exploring the concrete context, and other assignments derived from the material in the aria. - Stage expression assignments (in English)
The sub-test is held in small groups. The duration of the sub-test is 15–25 minutes. - Interview (in English)
The duration of the interview is 5–15 minutes.
Submitting the sheet music:
Submit sheet music for the three (3) arias you are required to perform in the second stage of the entrance examination by e-mail no later than on Friday 21 February 2025 to siba.lamuvalinnat@uniarts.fi. The sheet music must be submitted as PDF files of good quality, the entire song as a single file.
Bring the same sheet music to the entrance examination as either originals or copies. The music must be of high quality, and the sheets must be taped together. Your name and all possible leaps, cadenzas, or other deviations from the original notation must be clearly marked on the sheets.
Entrance examination assessment
Applicants’ performance in the entrance examinations is assessed by Entrance Examination Boards appointed specifically for each programme.
Based on your entrance examination performance, the Board evaluates your knowledge, skills, and capabilities, as well as your ability to complete the degree studies within the programme’s normative duration. The assessment takes into account how your previous education and experience are reflected in your competence, and compares your competence to the objectives set in the curriculum. When assessing your educability, it is also considered that the new degree must provide you with a sufficient amount of additional competence.
In addition, the Opera programme Entrance Examination Board will assess your:
- Abilities as a soloist and musical talent
- Technical and expressive capabilities
- Stage expression capabilities (including capacity to take direction, team working skills, individual presence, memorization skills, physical creativity and overall physicality, ability to connect with a text, alertness and reactivity, and willingness to improvise)
- Stage, acting, communication and ensemble skills
- Ability to follow verbal instructions and learn new things
- Adaptability
- Artistic development potential
- Material in CV
Based on your motivational letter and interview, the Board will assess your written and oral expression skills, ability to express your motivation and goals, and realistic conceptions related to the profession.
An important criterion for your educability is your voice material.
The Opera programme Entrance Examination Board appreciates applicants with all types of voices and ranks the applicants according to skill, proficiency, and educability. The admission process aims at assembling a versatile musical theatre ensemble.
Scoring of the entrance examination
The Board will assess your performances in the first stage as a whole on a scale of 0 to 3 points.
The Board will assess your performances in the second stage on a scale of 0 to 25 points. The points in the second stage are based on an overall assessment of your entrance examination performances as a whole in both stages.
The score for the second stage will remain your final score.
Questions or comments?
You can contact us via e-mail at siba.admissions@uniarts.fi.
If you have any questions, please check first if your question has been already answered on our Frequently Asked Questions page.
Please note that in principle we do not explain the entrance examination assignments. The instructions are in the admissions guide.
If you have any questions regarding student life at the Sibelius Academy or in Helsinki, you can contact our Student Ambassadors at siba.student.ambassadors@uniarts.fi.
The Sibelius Academy Admissions Chat
Thinking of applying to the Sibelius Academy? Save the date and join our interactive Admissions Chat on the Sibelius Academy Instagram Live on Wednesday, 26 November 2025 at 7 PM (Finnish time). You will meet our students and staff, explore our study options, learn how to apply – and get answers to your most important questions in real time.
More info: 👉 https://www.instagram.com/sibeliusacademy/