Malin Byström is a Swedish soprano, trained at the University College of Opera in Stockholm. She has been coached by Jonathan Morris since 1997 and collaborates with him, still to this day. In 2016 Malin Byström received the Litteris et Artibus medal and in 2018 she was appointed Hovsågerska (Court Singer) by H.M. The King. She was named Female Singer of the Year in the 2018 International Opera Awards. Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, HSO, was founded in 1912. The conductor was Olof Lidner, who led the orchestra up to 1939 when the charismatic Sten Frykberg took over the baton and kept it until 1945. In 1990 the Finn Okku Kamu was engaged, who for nine years significantly developed the orchestra, and in 2005 the British conductor and violinist Andrew Manze arrived and stayed until 2013, whereupon Stefan Solyom took over the role of head conductor. The Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra is today of a very high international quality. The orchestra consists of approximately 60 musicians and is guested by conductors and soloists with the world as their workplace. A number of awards have been bestowed on it for various recordings. Solyom is a Swedish conductor and composer. He studied horn and conducting at the Royal College of Music, Stockholm and the Sibelius Academy. His conducting teachers included Jorma Panula and Leif Segerstam and was a prizewinner in the 2000 International Sibelius Conducting Competition. In 2005, Solyom conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, substituting on short notice for another conductor and subsequently became Associate Guest Conductor of the orchestra one year later. In 2009, Solyom became Generalmusikdirektor of the Deutsches Nationaltheater and Staatskapelle Weimar. In 2013, Solyom was appointed Chief Conductor of the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra.