The Nordic Singers In Concert Live North America 2010 tour came to San Antonio. Our friends at Instituto Cultural de Mexico allowed MBAW to use their acoustically superior auditorium in Hemisfair Park to present this one-night-only event, sponsored by Copenhagen Contemporary Furniture, Instituto Cultural de Mexico, Yellow Rose Bed & Breakfast, and YouandIFinancial.
Where: Mexican Cultural Institute, 600 Hemisfair Plaza Way
When: June 16, 2010, 7 PM
The Program:
Act I: Arias and Duets from La Bohëme, La Traviata, Madame Butterfly, and Carmen
Act II: Songs from the Nordic countries, Musicals & Operettas
About The Nordic Singers
Knud Rasmussen, Piano
Rasmussen was trained at the Fynen Music Conservatory in Odense, with further studies at the Danish Royal Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. He has diplomas in piano, organ, and guitar performance, and has accompanied singers in all branches of music, classical and modern. He is the founder of the much acclaimed Joyful Noise Gospel Choir, which has performed all over Denmark as well as in the U.S.A. He is also the organist at the Gammel Holte Kirke in Denmark.
Cecilia Hjortsberg, Soprano
Cecilia Hjortsberg studied at The Royal Music Academy of Stockholm, Chamber music program and at The Opera Studio at the Gothenburg Opera, She has performed starring roles as the Witch in Hansel and Gretel; lsis in Naumann’s Osiris production by the Malmo Lyrical Ensemble; Donna Anna in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, production by the Opera of Skane Georgetta; in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, production by the Opera i Provinsen; Desdemona in Verdi’s Othello, production by the Opera i Provinsen. She performed at Takkeloftet at the Royal Danish Opera.
Randi Gislason, Soprano
Randi Gislason studied at the Opera Academy in Copenhagen. She made her debut in the vocally-demanding role of Lady Billows in Britten’s Albert Herring in Arhus, Denmark. She has since then sung a number of leading roles such as Lady Macbeth in Verdi’s Macbeth; Giorgetta in Puccini’s II Tabarro; Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni; and has appeared in operettas such as Rosalinde in The Bat. In addition to opera roles Gislason has given many recitals in lieder-oratorio and opera/operetta, such as Verdi’s Requiem. Among other awards, she received The Danish Wagner Society’s Scholarship to Bayreuth, Germany
Magnus Gislason, Tenor
Gislason was trained at the Music Conservatoire in Reykjavik, Iceland, and received further training in Milan under Prof. G. Ostini and masterclasses with Julia Hamari and Placido Domingo. He was permanently engaged at the Danish Royal Opera in 1991, and has since sung a series of concerts abroad and all around Denmark such as Verdi Requiem and Messe solennelle in Denmark and in Dresden, Frankfurt and Prague last year. In the summer of 2000, he sang Don Jose in Bizet’s Carmen in Hamburg in connection with the “Carmen 2000” project under the leadership of the conductor Cord Garben; in October, 2005-06, the production was performed in Tokyo, Japan. In 2006-07 he sang with the Royal Norwegian Opera in the premier of the opera “Aurora” by Tryggve Madsen. Magnus frequently sings concerts in Denmark and Germany.
Lars Bo Ravnbak, Tenor
Cand.mag. in music at the Copenhagen University. Lars studied with John Guttmann Serensen & Tonny Landy. Lars has sung the following roles: Don Jose in Carmen with Opera Fresca; Lucrezia Borgia at the Danish Belcanto Society; Verdi I Lombardi at the Opera Sacra in Zurich; Camille de Roussillon in the Merry Widow; and Tamino in The Magic Flute in Denmark.
Mats Calven, Tenor
Mats is Swedish-born and has sung with both the Danish Royal Opera and the Malmo State Opera of Sweden. He has performed as a tenor soloist with the Skaansk Opera, the Ystad Opera, and Music in Blekinge Summer Festival; as the Officer in R. Strauss’s opera Ariadne on Naxos; has sung the role of King Kaspar in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors; the role Basilio in Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro; as well as performed the solo parts in Verdi, Bach, Mozart, Bruckner, Rossini, and Handel oratorio concerts throughout Sweden. In the modern repertoire he has sung Jesus Christ Superstar and Moses at Present by Tholander and Gustafsson, and in August 2004 he sang the difficult role of Pollione in Bellini’s Norma in Malmo. He is frequently booked as tenor in concerts throughout Scandinavia.