Malena Ernman was born in Uppsala, Sweden. She achieved her international breakthrough in 1999 with the role of Nerone in Handel’s Agrippina under René Jacobs at La Monnaie in Brussels and at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Further engagements include Nancy (Albert Herring) and Prince Orlofsky (Die Fledermaus) at the Glyndebourne Festival, Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) at La Monnaie, Lichas in Handel’s Hercules under William Christie with Les Arts Florissants at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Wiener Festwochen and the Opéra de Paris, the title role in the world premiere of Philippe Boesmans’ Julieat La Monnaie, the Wiener Festwochen and Aix-en-Provence, Nerone (L’incoronazione di Poppea) under Jacobs at the Berlin State Opera and La Monnaie, Dido (Dido and Aeneas) under William Christie at the Wiener Festwochen, Annio (La clemenza di Tito) under Nikolaus Harnoncourt at the Salzburg Festival, Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) under Daniel Harding in Aix-en-Provence, Nerone under Christophe Rousset at the Nederlandse Opera Amsterdam, Angelina (La Cenerentola) at the Royal Opera Stockholm and the Frankfurt Opera, as well as Idamante (Idomeneo) at La Monnaie. She has also given numerous concerts with Andrea Bocelli.
Malena Ernman began her solo career as a jazz singer at the age of 15 in Orléans and Paris. She gave numerous jazz concerts with legendary Swedish jazz musicians such as Arne Domnérus, Putte Wickman and Magnus Lindgren. In 2009, she participated in the Eurovision Song Contest with the song “La Voix.”
She is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
