Young singers, instrumentalists and conductors have worked intensely these past days, guided by their coaches, at the Summer Academy Opera by the Fjord 2024. They are now ready for the staged concert with highlights from Das Rheingold by Wagner, as well as a selection of famous arias.

You'll meet all the 14 opera personalities from Das Rheingold, interpreted by the singers. 28 young instrumentalists will play in the academy orchestra together with top professionals from renowned opera and symphony orchestras in the Nordic countries and Austria who also will be their section leaders and mentors.

The four conductor students are in charge of the first part of the concert, before the two artistic leaders of the academy, Sascha Goetzel and Eivind Gullberg Jensen, will conduct Das Rheingold. The concert master is Maxim Brilinsky, 1st violinist from the Wiener Philharmoniker.

Read about the story and characters in Das Rheingold in Norwegian here (link)

Duration: Approx. 3 hours including 30 minutes intermission.

CONCERT PROGRAMME BEFORE THE INTERMISSION:
(Updated June 29th)

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Ouverture, Le nozze di Figaro
Conductor: Anna Hartmann

Gaetano Donizetti
La fille du régiment: Salut à la France
Alva Olsson (Marie)
Conductor: Tom Ole Elgsaas

Georges Bizet
Carmen: La fleur que tu m'avais jetée
Jostein Fahre (Don José)
Conductor: Chi-Yuan Lin

Giacomo Puccini
La rondine: Chi il bel sogno di Doretta
Annika Beinnes (Magda)
Conductor: Chi-Yuan Lin

Pyotr Tchaikovsky
Iolanta: Arioso
Viktor Shevchenko (King René)
Conductor: Sergey Akimov

Giuseppe Verdi
La traviata: Lunge da lei
Ian Marcus Bjørsvik (Alfredo)
Conductor: Chi-Yuan Lin

Charles Gounod
Faust: Faites-lui mes aveux
Sunniva Fevang (Siébél)
Conductor: Anna Hartmann

Gaetano Donizetti
L’elisir d’amore: Come Paride vezzoso
Einar Stefánsson (Belcore)
Conductor: Tom Ole Elgsaas

Georges Bizet
Carmen: Près des remparts de Séville
Melike Uludag (Carmen)
Conductor: Sergey Akimov

Giuseppe Verdi
Macbeth: Come dal ciel precipita
Zhengji Han (Banco)
Conductor: Tom Ole Elgsaas

Johann Strauss d.y.
Die Fledermaus: Im Feuerstrom der Reben
Conductor: Sergey Akimov

AFTER THE INTERMISSION:

Richard Wagner:
Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) – highlights

Eivind Gullberg Jensen og Sascha Goetzel / Conductors
Ivar Tindberg / Stage director
Ann-Terese Aasen / Choreographer and Assistant stage director
Cathrine Ahlsen / Costume design
Odd Halstensen / Set design
Kristian Andersen / Lighting design

SOLOISTS
Julie Sofie Storemyr / Woglinde
Sara Aasen / Wellgunde
Christina Jønsi / Flosshilde
Kristoffer Töyrä / Wotan
Robert Skovly / Loge
Cecilia Lund Tomter / Fricka
Melissa Baug / Freia
Jostein Fahre / Froh
Eirik Krokfjord / Donner
Frida Lund-Larsen / Erda
Simon Thorbjørnsen / Alberich
Endre Dahl / Mime
Johann Dornwald / Fasolt
Viktor Shevchenko / Fafner

Please note: All arias and the highlights from Das Rheingold will be sung in the original language, without surtitles.

THE ACADEMY ORCHESTRA JUNE 30TH
* = section leader/coach

Violin 1
Maxim Brilinsky*
Gabriel Dodin
Teo Devčić
Kristin Engås
Ece Samanlioglu

Violin 2
Lucas Takeshi Stratmann*
Yejin Joo
Laura Soeters
Filip Bråthen Hansen
Aiste Karpaviciute

Viola
James Opie*
Katherine Veeckman
Viola Innocenti
Eeva Tenkanen

Cello
Erik Wahlgren*
Elias Moreira
Judit Diaz Alvarez

Double bass
Patrick Wilder*
Aleksandra Jaworska

Flute
Karl-Heinz Schütz*
Elina Ceprova

Oboe
Ella Dorothea Delbrück
Emilie Wästlund

Clarinet
Silvia Schweigl
Vera Cecilie Xiang Aadland

Bassoon
Audun Halvorsen*
Jonas Beckmann

Horn
José Luis Cortell*
Sytske Pas

Trumpet
Ángel Manuel Nicolás Barceló
Alexander Keiser

Trombone
Çağla Turhan
Carles Broseta Garcia

Bass trombone
Ivan Cheung

Harp
Marcelina Dąbek

Piano
Chen Pang (repetiteur student)

Timpani and percussion
Manuel Hofstätter
(from Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra)

WHAT IS THE SUMMER ACADEMY?
The summer academy Opera by the fjord is aimed at students who are currently in education, or who have recently graduated. Our top team of coaches all have experience from renowned opera houses and symphony orchestras.

Our academy is unique in that singers can rehearse and perform together with an orchestra, in a staged situation, as well as in concert arias. The training program is put into a larger context and will go beyond simply vocal training.

The conductor students will get a tailor-made mentoring in the specialist skills required to be an opera conductor, and two repetiteur students are also joining.

28 young instrumentalists will play in the academy orchestra 2024 together with top professionals from renowned opera and symphony orchestras in Scandinavia and Vienna, who also will be their section leaders and mentors.

Photos from the Opera at the fjord concerts 2021, 2022 and 2023:

FACULTY / ARTISTIC TEAM 2024

Directors and founders:
Eivind Gullberg Jensen, Artistic & General Director of Bergen National Opera, and Chief Conductor of Noord Nederlands Orkest
Sascha Goetzel, Music Director for Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire and National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and Principle Guest Conductor for Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra

Vocal coaches:
Solveig Kringlebotn, soprano and professor at the Academy of Opera in Oslo and Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo
Albert Dohmen, bass-baritone from Germany, renowned for his Ring-roles Wotan, Alberich and Hagen at the Bayreuth festival 
Kristin Okerlund, pianist and vocal coach from the Vienna State Opera
Hans-Otto Ehrström, pianist and vocal coach from the Vienna State Opera

Stage director: Ivar Emil Tindberg, Norwegian stage director, writer and composer
Assistant stage director: Ann-Terese Aasen, Norwegian choreographer and stage director

Costume designer:
Cathrine Ahlsen, Head of Costumes at Bergen National Opera

Orchestra coaches/section leaders:
1st violin: Maxim Brilinsky, leader of the 1st violin section, Wiener Philharmoniker
2nd violin:  Lucas Takeshi Stratmann, principal 2nd violin, Wiener Staatsoper
Viola:  James Opie, co-principal viola, Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra in Stockholm
Cello:  Erik Wahlgren, solocellist, Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra in Stockholm
Double bass:  Patrick Wilder, co-principal double bass, The Norwegian Opera & Ballet
Woodwind:
Karl-Heinz Schütz, solo flute Wiener Philharmoniker
Audun Halvorsen, principal bassoon in the Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DR SymfoniOrkestret)
Brass:
José Luis Cortell, principal horn alternating, the Finnish National Opera in Helsinki. Solo horn, Konzerthaus Orchestra Berlin from October 2024
Timpani and percussion:  Manuel Hofstätter*, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra

*Hofstätter is our guest musician, and not a coach at the academy

Opera by the fjord - Summer Academy is presented by Bergen National Opera in collaboration med Oseana kunst- og kultursenter, and is supported by Grieg Foundation, Sparebankstiftelsen DnB, Talent Norge, Vestland fylkeskommune, Sparebank1 SR-Bank og SR-stiftelsen and The GC Rieber Foundations.