News & Updates

There’s suddenly a buzz in the air and the trees are slowly awakening from their winter slumber. Our artists are in two world premieres this month, and have several concerts and performances to look forward to.

On April 5th the opera “Fjordenes Drømmespil (HOLOGRAMMET)” (Dream vision’s of the Fjords (THE HOLOGRAM)) will see its World Premiere in no other place than in the city mall of Randers in Jutland, Denmark. Our Tenor CHRISTIAN DAMSGAARD in singing the tenor part in this newly written piece by composer Katinka Fogh Vindelev and performed by Randers Kammerorkester.

Mezzo-Soprano FRANCINE VIS is getting ready to board the pirate ship as the Captain in the newly written opera “Nalle Havsöga” (Teddy Bear Sea Eye), about the teddy bear pirates who have strandede on a deserted island, and who discover that their tears might be their rescue. This Children’s opera can be experienced at the Malmö Opera’s small stage, Operaverkstan from April 6th

In Aarhus on april 11th soprano FREDERIKKE KAMPMANN and Mezzo-Soprano SIDSEL ERIKSEN will portray the Elf King’s daughter and the Mother in Niels W. Gade’s grandiose orchestra piece “Elverskud” (Elf King’s Daughter) as well as a newer orchestra piece “Synderjysk Sommersymfoni” (Symphony of Southern Denmark) by Bo Holten, with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.

Soprano SOFIE JENSEN will sing the soprano part in Leonard Bernstein’s “Songfest: A Cycle of American Poems for Six Singers and Orchestra” with Copenhagen Phil on April 12th.

The long awaited premiere of Gluck’s opera “Orphée et Eurydice” will open in a travel friendly format on April 13th in the Wilminktheater in Enschede, with our tenor YAROSLAV ABAIMOV in the leading role of Orphée.

On April 28th soprano AYLIN SEZER will sing a wonderful display of various art songs by Barber, Grieg, Poulenc and Ravel with pianist Ed Spanjaard at a Sunday Morning matinée in the concert hall Musis in Arnhem.

Happy spring to all of our wonderful artists!  

Spring is undeniably getting closer as our artists prepare various performances and concerts this month.

Soprano ALINA TKACHUK will be touring the Netherlands as Rosina in “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with the Moldova opera. They will visit cities as Nieuwegein, Amstelveen, Hoorn, Tiel, Rotterdam and more. The tour is from February 29th-March 22nd

Recent nominee for the Icelandic Music Award as “Singer of the Year” (Íslensku tónlistaverðlaunin), icelandic baritone HRÓLFUR SÆMUNDSSON will be singing the 1st SS officer in the opera “Die Passagierin” opening on March 1st in Teatro Real in Madrid.

On March 7th, Danish soprano SOFIE JENSEN will visit Aalborg Symphony Orchestra with the demanding orchestra and soprano piece “Let me tell you”, composed by Hans Abrahamsen, a composition which was awarded the Nordic council music prize in 2016.

As we approach Easter, many of our artists will be performing Easter related music and oratorios this month: FREDERIKKE KAMPMANN and STEFFEN BRUUN will team up as Adam and Eve in the creation by Joseph Haydn March 10th in Viborg, March 16th in Holstebro and March 17th in Aarhus.

Counter tenor STEFFEN JESPERSEN will be singing the Alto part in St. John’s passion with the Aarhus Bach Society on March 10th.

On March 16th PAVEL KOLGATIN sings the tenor part in the C minor mass by Mozart in the concert called “the gift of the youth” with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Tenor CONNY THIMANDER travels to Lisbon in Portugal to sing the evangelist and tenor solo in three sold out performances of the Bach’s St. John’s passion, with the Gulbenkian Music Foundation on March 26th, 27th and 28th.

Soprano JOHANNA NYLUND will be performing in a completely newly composed version (by Bent Sørensen) of the St. Matthew's Passion with the Danish broadcasting corporation orchestra on March 28th.

This is also the month where the highly anticipated and playful production of “Ariadne auf Naxos” by director Katie Mitchell (which first opened in Aix en Provences in 2018) will be premiering on March 13th at The Royal Danish Theatre, with three of our singers on the cast list: SIMON DUUS (Truffaldino), MARLENE METZGER (Najade), and IAN BJØRSVIK (An officer)

And finally, we're looking forward to our new mezzo-soprano CLÁUDIA RIBAS singing Cornelia in “Giulio Césare” which will premiere on March 24th at Oper Frankfurt.

Yet another month full of music from our magnificent artists! 

2024 is already a month old and our artists have a lot of exciting productions to look forward to in February.

There's still time to catch the last production of “Flurry Tale” at Malmö Opera with KRISTINE NOWLAIN. The final performance is on February 4th.

On the 2nd of February, a very exciting and grand scale production of Giuseppe Verdi’s immortal opera “Aida”, will be having its world premiere in Hamburg. We have three singers in this production; bass STEFFEN BRUUN as Il Re, soprano YANA KLEYN as Aida herself and NORA SOUROUZIAN as Amneris. This huge scale production will be playing in the biggest arenas and concerts halls in Europe, so don’t miss this amazing opportunity of an opera experience out of the ordinary. Read more about the cast and production here: www.aida-opera.live/en/

Another exciting premiere is Norrlandsoperan’s production of “Stolthet och fördom” (Pride and Prejudice) with our tenor FABIAN DÜBERG as Mr. Wickham. This opera will be playing from february 3rd - march 2nd.

Also happening on February 3rd is the Premiere of “Turandot” at Malmö Opera. In this production is our young baritone JONAH SPUNGIN as Ping and tenor CONNY THIMANDER as Pong.

The Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen also still has their production of “Die Zauberflöte” by Barrie Kosky, with soprano LOUISE MCCLELLAND (Pamina) and colouratura SVETLANA MOSKALENKO (The Queen of the Night) returning in the cast. Find specific dates at the Royal Theaters website here: www.kglteater.dk

At the Royal National Finnish opera and Ballet brilliant soprano AISTE PILIBA will be singing Tatiana in “Eugen Onegin”. The production premieres on February 9th.

Bass-baritone SIMON DUUS, will be singing a wonderful lied-concert on February 6th with pianist Magnus Wenzel Most, performing repertoire by Vaughan Williams, Barber and Finzi in the beautiful church, which was drawn by Danish Architect Jørn Utzon, Bagsværd Kirke.

The opera “Madama Butterfly” will premiere on February 25th at The Royal Danish Opera, starring Bass baritone JENS SØNDERGAARD as Sharpless.

We look forward to a wonderful month for our artists!  

TENOR CHRISTIAN DAMSGAARD JOINS OUR ROSTER!

We are very excited to welcome Danish tenor Christian Damsgaard to the roster. Christian is one of Denmark's most sought after tenors, with a wide repertoire.

Managing Director Jonas Fosdal says about signing Christian to the roster:
"A well established Danish tenor with international experience, covering a wide range of character tenor roles and oratorios with a warm, flexible tenor voice and a strong theatrical presence is always a welcome addition to any roster!"

Learn more about Christian Damsgaard here 

 We are excited to begin a new year, and our artists are busy right from the get go, ringing in the new year with lots of magnificent concerts.

Tenor MIKE BRACEGIRDLE will sing concerts with the South Denmark Philharmonic in various cities in Southern Denmark January 4th-8th, soprano FREDERIKKE KAMPMANN will go on a national tour with Promenadeorkesteret all over Denmark on January 3rd-17th, soprano SIBYLLE GLOSTED is performing concerts with Ensemble Storstrøm from January 6th-20th and mezzosoprano SIDSEL ERIKSEN sings with Randers Kammerorkester on January 10th and 12th

Not only are we ringing in the new year with style, our dramatic soprano TRINE MØLLER will also give a stunning performance of “Elektra” at Theater Lübeck, in the much awaited staging by legendary mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender, premiering on January 27th

We are looking forward to welcome a bright 2024 with lots of wonderful performances.

It’s beginning to look a lot like… Christmas concerts! This month our artists are getting into the holiday spirit. There is of course a lot of performances of Händel’s iconic “The Messiah”, and J.S. Bach’s immortal “Weihnachtsoratorium”, but our audience can also look forward to various winter and Christmas themed operas and concerts.

Here are some highlights of the month:

Tenor CONNY THIMANDER is appearing in the opera “Snøsystera” (Snow sister) at Opera Nordfjord, re-opening on December 1st. Another winter-themed opera opening this month is “Vinteryra” (Flurry Tale) at Malmö Opera starring soprano KRISTINE NOWLAIN. The premiere is on December 16th.

Mezzosoprano FRANCINE VIS is singing a wonderful French themed Christmas concert with Camerata Øresund Dec. 2nd-3rd in Copenhagen.

In Pfaltztheater Kaiserslautern SOFIE LUND will sing Pamina in “Die Zauberflöte”, when their production premieres on December 16th.

Another long anticipated production of the same opera, is a new recorded film-version in Danish, "Tryllefjøjten", produced by Operaen i Midten in collaboration with Opera Hedeland and Concerto Copenhagen. Ascolta Artists are proud to represent no less than five singers in this production: IAN BJØRSVIK (Tamino), MARLENE METZGER (Pamina), WILLIAM PEDERSEN (Papageno), SIDSEL ERIKSEN (Papagena) and JONATHAN KEIDING (Monostatos). The opera will be available for stream and will also be shown in select cinemas in Denmark from December 13th.

No December without the iconic work “The Messiah” by Händel. Soprano FREDERIKKE KAMPMANN is singing the soprano part both with Copenhagen Oratorio Choir (Dec. 6th-7th), and along with tenor CONNY THIMANDER they will sing this piece with Camerata chamber Choir in Holmens Church in Copenhagen (Dec 19th-22nd). Mezzosoprano MATHILDA BRYNGELSSON is singing the alto part in Lund Cathedral in Sweden on December 9th and baritone JENS SØNDERGAARD (photo) will sing the bass part with South Denmark Philharmonic (Dec14th-16th)

Tenor CONNY THIMANDER, being a sought after oratorio singer, will also sing the tenor part in “Weihnachtsoratorium” in Aarhus on December 10th.

On December 21st multiple Christmas concerts are happening: baritone JENS SØNDERGAARD is singing a magical Christmas concert with Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, and soprano MARLENE METZGER joins Concerto Copenhagen in celebrating Christmas in Trinitatis Church in Copenhagen. 

We wish you all a fantastic Holiday season blessed with wonderful music!  

Here is where you can find some of our brilliant artists this November:

It is Requiem-season and baritone TEIT KANSTRUP sings Duruflé’s Requiem with Copenhagen Boys Choir on Nov 3rd in the Copenhagen Cathedral.

One of our other young talented mezzo-sopranos is MATHILDA BRYNGELSSON, making her role debut with Fekluša in “Katja Kabanova” at Bergen Nasjonale Opera opening on Nov. 4th

At Staatsoper Hamburg our soprano CELINE MUN will star in the performance “Handel’s Factory” also opening on Nov 4th

Baritone TEIT KANSTRUP will sing Prince Millo in the opera “Ravnen” now touring with Den Jyske Opera, along with three of our other singers SIBYLLE GLOSTED, ANDERS KAMPMANN and STEFFEN BRUUN.

The new children’s opera “Der Goldene Brunnen” is still playing at Pfaltzteater Kaiserslautern with soprano SOFIE LUND in the lead role as the brave girl Machenka, who sets out to save her village. Performances on Nov 10th, 11th and 26th

At L’Opéra de Reims soprano YANA KLEYN will star in “Rusalka”, playing on Nov. 17th and 19th

In the Netherlands, Reisopera is touring with Jevgeni Onjegin, starring our tenor YAROSLAV ABAIMOV as Lenski. The premiere will be in Wilminktheater in Enschede on Nov. 17th

There’s also the possibility to enjoy yet another Mozart’s Requiem starring soprano KRISTINE NOWLAIN and mezzo-soprano MATHILDA BRYNGELSSON with Linköping Symphony Orchestra on Nov 19th

You can enjoy a festive concert with tenor ANDERS KAMPMANN with Vejle Symphony Orchestra on Nov 21st in Musikhuset Vejle, and in Slagelse on nov 23rd you can experience soprano SOFIE JENSEN in this years’ Christmas concert with Sct. Georges Gilderne.

Finally this month, soprano JOHANNA NYLUND gets her role debut as Adele in “Die Fledermaus” at the Finnish National Opera on Nov 24th

 Joining our roster is canadian baritone, Jonah Spungin, with his delicious warm and round sounding baritone. Critiques have acclaimed his “tremendous placement of voice and timbre” (Le Devoir).

Managing Director Jonas Fosdal describes him:
“Jonah really impressed me with his honest and touching interpretation of Jan in "Breaking the Waves” at the Vadstena Academy. Despite his young age his big, caramel creamy sounding and well projected baritone voice already points towards repertoire beyond the Cavalier repertoire so he is certainly a young singer to follow!"
A warm welcome to Jonah!

Our singers have busy month ahead of them, and here are a few highlights. On Oct. 1st soprano SOFIE LUND will sing the lead role of Maschenka in the world premiere of “Der Goldene Brunnen” a new fairytale opera composed to the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern

Tenor, FABIAN DÜBERG will appear in “Venere e Adono” in the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg on Sep. 29th-Oct. 3rd, produced by Staatsoper Hamburg. DÜBERG will also appear on the touring opera “Kronbruden” with Malmö Opera, until Dec 3rd.

Also on Malmö Opera is bass NICOLAI ELSBERG appearing as Masetto in “Don Giovanni” premiering on Oct. 7th. Another version of “Don Giovanni” is currently playing at the Finnish National Opera, where our soprano JOHANNA NYLUND (photo) will sing the demanding role of Donna Anna, with her debut being on Oct 12th.

Another Mozart opera will premiere on Oct. 12th with the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen - “The Magic Flute”, in the iconic production by Barrie Kosky and starring seven of our singers: JONATHAN KOPPEL (Tamino), LOUISE MCCLELLAND (Pamina), SVETLANA MOSKALENKO (Queen of the Night), MARLENE METZGER (1st lady), SIMON DUUS (Papageno), JENS CHRISTIAN TVILUM (1st armored man), NICOLAI ELSBERG (Sarastro). Not all are appearing on the same dates, but make sure to check www.kglteater.dk for the cast-list.

On Oct. 13th there will be two premieres with singers from our roster. One of them being the world premiere of the opera “Det Långe Seklet” (the long century) in Bastionen, Malmö, produced by Freebird Operalab and featuring Mezzo-soprano FRANCINE VIS and soprano KRISTINE NOWLAIN.
The same evening, In Odense - the birthplace of Danish fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen, Den Jyske Opera has rediscovered one of his operas, “Ravnen” (the Raven), starring our singers SIBYLLE GLOSTED (Armilla), ANDERS KAMPMANN (Jennaro), TEIT KANSTRUP (Prince Millo) and STEFFEN BRUUN (Norando). The opera will tour all of Denmark until Dec 2nd.

Two semi-staged concert versions of operas in two very different locations of Europe will take place on Oct 14th and 15th. On the 14th Helsingborgs Symfoniorkester will perform the Rossini opera “Il Barbiere di Siviglia” with mezzo-soprano SIDSEL ERIKSEN in the leadrole as Rosina, and our tenor ALEJANDRO ROY sings the demanding tenor part in “Il Trovatore” with Amigos de la Ópera de Vigo on Oct. 15th.

Beethoven’s grandiose 9th symphony will go on a mini-tour from Oct. 20th-22nd with the dutch orchestra Phion, starring soprano AYLIN SEZER.

The romantic and somewhat tragic opera “Eugen Onegin” premieres on Oct 22nd at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen with baritone JENS SØNDERGAARD as Onegin and soprano SOFIE JENSEN as Tatjana.

And rounding off the month with more romantic music, is a concert version of “Tosca” premiering on Oct. 29th with Lyngby-Taarbæk Symphony Orchestra starring soprano YANA KLEYN, and baritones LARS FOSSER and FREDERIK ROLIN 

Great success for soprano TRINE MØLLER in her portrayal of Brünnhilde in “Die Walküre” and “Das Rheingold” as a part of a new ring cycle spanning over the next two seasons “Der Ring - Ein Festival” at Theater Basel

Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and our baritone JENS SØNDERGAARD celebrated danish opera, and did a wonderful concert with highlights from cherished and newly re-discovered danish operas to much success

Soprano AYLIN SEZER sang the part of Adele in a concert version of the opera “Il Pirata” by Bellini in the iconic Concertgebouw

Energetic tenor CONNY THIMANDER enjoyed a successful opening of “La Cenerentola” as Prince Ramiro at Folksoperan in Stockholm

Tenor JONATHAN KOPPEL and soprano FREDERIKKE KAMPMANN (jump-in) sang a wonderful version of Joseph Haydn’s “Die Schöpfung” with Copenhagen Phil with standing ovations at both
concerts.

We are also very excited for the new singers joining our roster this month; tenor IAN BJØRSVIK, soprano ALINA TKACHUK and mezzosoprano NUTSA ZAKAIDZE - A warm welcome to you!
 

Jonas, Rita and Fany!