Soloist student Laura Helene Hansen wins Opera Talent of the Year 2026

As part of the Copenhagen Opera Festival, a new Danish voice is celebrated each year with the Opera Talent of the Year award. This year, the prize goes to soprano Laura Helene Hansen, who is described as an artist who both masters tradition and insists on challenging it. She holds a Master’s degree from the Royal Danish Opera Academy and is currently studying in the soloist class at RDAM. At present, she is on leave from her studies to tour with Den Jyske Opera, performing the role of Donna Anna in Don Giovanni.

On the occasion of the award, Amy Lane, Artistic Director of Copenhagen Opera Festival, says: “I have followed the development of the incredible talent that is Laura Helene Hansen since 2022 (…) She has a voice and a dramatic presence that take you straight into the heart and core of every role she inhabits, and Laura’s humor, passion, curiosity, and all-encompassing love for her art form carry the audience over the crest of every wave.”

David Kempster, opera singer and RDAM teacher, also shares high praise for Laura Helene Hansen following the award: “I am elated that Laura has been named Opera Talent of the Year 2026. She is an absolute joy to work with. She has great musical and theatrical instincts and has an unquenchable urge to keep honing and perfecting her talent,” he states.

For Laura Helene Hansen, receiving such public recognition means a great deal: “It is, quite simply, invaluable for a young artist, but I also see it as a sign that our industry is changing into something more diverse—or at least more flexible. I am certainly not a traditional, conservative opera singer, and I have said and done many things I have repeatedly been advised against. I speak out loudly about misogyny in the industry that is excused as ‘tradition,’ I constantly address the lack of diversity in our repertoire, and I have been very open about my past as a substance abuser. These are all things the older generation has begged me to keep to myself, or I would never succeed. But things are actually going quite well,” she says.

You can experience Laura Helene Hansen at the Opera Talent of the Year Concert on Friday, August 14, 2026, at Aveny-T.

Read more about the Opera Talent of the Year Concert and Laura Helene Hansen
Read more about Laura Helene Hansen

Photo: Nadia Von Rikka