New ambitious opera choir aims to strengthen Nordic unity

For the first time ever, a choir consisting of professional Nordic singers has been established. The ambition is to strengthen Nordic unity through the artistic project YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR, which has been funded by a grant of DKK 4 million from the A.P. Møller Foundation.

We are all living in times of great upheaval, and more so than any time since the Second World War, there is a need for unity. Both in the worlds of culture and media, a great emphasis is currently being placed on improving collaboration and interconnectedness among the Nordic countries.

Both communal singing and organized choir singing have historically played a crucial cultural role in the Nordic countries, and it is based on this important tradition that The Jutland School of Singing has taken the initiative to establish YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR. The core principle is simple: When we sing together, we belong together!

In 2023, YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR will perform at Reykjavik Opera Days and will be introduced for the first time at its debut concert on August 27^th at Herning Opera Festival. In the coming years, another Nordic festival will present a concert with the choir.

Mads Bille: “A truly high-quality opera choir”
The quality of the choir is ensured by its members, all of whom are either professional young singers or advanced students, recruited from all over the Nordic countries. Exactly the combination of students and recent graduates creates a strong synergy and opportunity for the singers to exchange their experiences.

YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR will be an important platform for the development of young professional singers in all the Nordic countries. Each year, the 30 members of the choir are recruited through an open call. A singer can be part of the choir multiple years in a row, but everyone must compete on equal footing with newcomers for a spot each year.

“We are only in our first year, but we have already experienced a high degree of interest from singing communities and academies all over the Nordic countries. This means that, from the get-go, we can present a truly high-quality opera choir, and we are extremely excited to introduce it to the audience,” says Mads Bille, the artistic director of Herning Opera Festival.

Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and the Faroe Islands have all supplied at least one singer for the choir, which consists of 30 singers with an average age of 27 years. The youngest is 18, while the oldest is 35.

Young star conductor steps up on the podium
Conducting the choir in 2023 is a 31-year-old Dane, Magnus Larsson, who already has experience performing across the Nordic countries, both within opera and symphonic music.

The grand idea behind YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR is to let art become the ‘common third’, which then establishes the framework for a new Nordic dialogue. The repertoire of the choir is based on the strong Nordic choir tradition and the European opera tradition.

The ambition is that YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR eventually presents new music written especially for the choir. In its first season, YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR will exclusively perform highlights from the great European tradition. Next year, the choir will primarily perform works from the Nordic tradition, and in the third season, new music will be presented.

“With Magnus Larsson, we present a curious and resourceful musician, who is still at the beginning stages of his career. We are excited about his far-reaching appetite for all kinds of repertoires, and we are excited to witness the collaboration between our new choir and Magnus unfold,” says Mads Bille.

Gala concert at Herning Opera Festival will be the debut
The choir will perform at an array of festivals around the Nordic countries and thereby contribute to making the opera genre more approachable for the general public all over the Nordic countries, hopefully inspiring everyone who hears the choir to also sing more themselves.

The debut concert of the YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR will take place on August 27^th at Herning Opera Festival, when the choir will perform a gala concert on the festival’s big stage. On October 29^th, a concert at Opera Days in Reykjavik will follow.

The choir will be based in Herning, which – thanks to The Jutland School of Singing – has established itself as Denmark’s capital of singing, and it is also an important epicenter for singing for all the Nordic Countries. The A.P. Møller and Chastine Mc-Kinney Møller Foundation has donated a grant of DKK 4 million, which supports the choir through 2025.

The choir members will rehearse individually in the Nordic countries they live in and meet physically in Herning and Reykjavik in the period leading up to the concerts.

Best regards
HAVE Communications & PR

For additional information, please contact:
Anja Linnet · anja@have.dk · (+45) 22 65 53 48
Sofie Klindrup · sofie@have.dk · (+45) 25 48 37 49
Rikke Hesselholt · rikke@have.dk · (+45) 28 43 38 93

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Facts about YOUNG NORDIC OPERA CHOIR

Distribution of nationalities:

• Danish: 13
• Swedish: 8
• Finnish: 2
• Icelandic: 5
• Norwegian: 1
• Faroese: 1

Types of singers:

• 9x soprano
• 7x mezzo
• 7x tenor
• 7x bass
• 16 women
• 14 men

Choir members:

• Anne Sofie Møller Olesen: 26 år, sopran, dansk, studerende
• Birgir Stefánsson: 27 år, tenor, islandsk, studerende
• Birita Adela Davidsen: 32 år, sopran, færøerne, professionel
• Camilla Button: 35 år, sopran, dansk, professionel
• Cathrine Breinholt Højlund: 30 år, sopran, dansk, studerende
• Dagur Þorgrímsson: 30 år, tenor, islandsk, professionel
• Daniel Kjær Holmberg: 28 år, tenor, dansk, professionel
• Ditte Maria Otte Mølgaard: 34 år, sopran, dansk, professionel
• Elizaveta Agrafenina: 32 år, sopran, norsk, professionel
• Ellert Blær Gudjónsson: 21 år, bas, islandsk, studerende
• Emilia Juvonen: 27 år, mezzo, finsk, studerende
• Gustav Ekmark: 23 år, bas, svensk, studerende
• Hilda Johansson: 25 år, sopran, svensk, studerende
• Iirisilona Milena May Segerstam: 23 år, sopran, finsk, studerende
• Ingrid Rydh: 22 år, mezzo, svensk, studerende
• Jeppe Møller Sørensen: 24 år, tenor, dansk, studerende
• Kirsten Voss Petersen: 28 år, mezzo, dansk, professionel
• Ludvig Sjöstedt: 21 år, tenor, svensk, studerende
• Magnus Mariegaard: 22 år, bas, dansk, studerende
• Mea Sethson: 34 år, mezzo, svensk, professionel
• Mikkel Baungaard Thomsen: 30 år, bas, dansk, professionel
• Mikkel Frees Steensen: 25 år, bas, dansk, studerende
• Milanka Noveska: 26 år, mezzo, svensk, professionel
• Nicklas Bjärnhall Prytz: 30 år, tenor, svensk, studerende
• Óskar Tinni Traustason: 18 år, bas, islandsk, studerende
• Ragnheiður Ingunn Jóhannsdóttir: 22 år, sopran, islandsk, professionel
• Sara Bäck: 31 år, mezzo, svensk, professionel
• Sebastian Haugstrup Hansen: 25 år, bas, dansk, studerende
• Sebastian Kjældgaard: 28 år, tenor, dansk, professionel
• Sofia Warden Bigom: 28 år, mezzo, dansk, professionel