Students and alumni in televised Birgit Nilsson celebration
A large number of students and alumni as well as staff from the Academy of Music and Drama participated in a televised gala, celebrating the memory and hundredth anniversary of the late opera star Birgit Nilsson.
Birgit Nilsson interviewed by Lennart Swahn on Swedish public television in 1964. Image: Wiki Commons
On May 21, 2018, Swedish public television (SVT) broadcast a big opera gala on the occasion of the opera star Birgit Nilsson's 100th anniversary. Nilsson's most famous pieces, written by Wagner, Puccini, Verdi and R. Strauss were sung by top class singers. The choir and orchestra of GöteborgsOperan was led by Kjell Ingebretsen, former artistic director of the academy's MA in orchestra performance and Honorary Doctor at the University of Gothenburg. A large number of current and former students and staff from the Academy of Music and Drama also participated: Øyvor Volle (Concertmaster), Iréne Theorin (Singer), Anna Svedlund, Gabriela Prokocka and Sofia Eklund (Violin), Frazer Keddie (Viola), My Hellgren (Cello), Sandra Simon Monje (Oboe), Rosa Campoy (Clarinet), Fernando Cintra De Andrade, Alex Hambleton, Kjersti Vanderloock and Christian McKay (French Horn), Justin Campbell and Jonny Goodwin (Trombone), André Strömberg (Percussion), Henrik Kilhamn (Celesta).