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The Finnish mezzo-soprano, Jeni Packalén (Packalen), has studied at the Lahti Conservatory and at Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, where, in 2010, she graduated, with honours, in Singing. After graduation, she continued her studies at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. Her teachers have included: Margareta Haverinen, Heikki Pellinen, Collin Hansen, Dale Fundling and Gustav Djupsjöbacka. In the 2008 at Lappeenranta Singing Competition she won second prize, and in 2009 she was awarded a stipend by Finland's Richard Wagner Cultural Association in Bayreuth.
Jeni Packalén is known for the luminous tone and rich character of her voice. In the Autumn of 2009, she made her debut in the role of Ulla in Isän tyttö (Daddy's girl) at Finnish National Opera where, since then, she has performed in several operas, among others Dmitri Shostakovich's Nose (Old lady) and Massenet's Thaïs (Albine). Further afield, shehas performed in Graz in Rigoletto (Maddalena), and in Bayreuth in a concert version of Seigfried (Erda). She has also sung in Vaasa in Kuusisto's Isänmaan tyttärien (Marjatta).
The Summer of 2016 sees Jeni Packalén return to the Kuhmo Chamber Music Festival, where she has been singing since 2010. Performances in Kuhmo include chamber music programmes as well as semi-staged performances of Georges Bizet's Carmen, where Jeni sang the title role, and Ullmann's The Emperor of Atlantis in the role of The Drummer. She currently lives in Helsinki, Finland. |
