Per Kristian Skalstad

Conductor Per Kristian Skalstad has appeared with every Norwegian orchestra on numerous occasions and has been a sought-after ballet and opera conductor for many years. This year, he will appear with, among others, the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic, and the Finnish National Ballet, as well as at several festivals and smaller productions.

Skalstad earned a diploma in violin performance in 1995 and in orchestral conducting in 2002, both from the Norwegian Academy of Music. He made his breakthrough as a ballet conductor at the opening of the new opera house in Bjørvika in 2008, but has since 2004 conducted around 30 major productions for the Norwegian National Ballet. His repertoire includes classics such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Don Quixote, Romeo & Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty, as well as a wide range of newer works by choreographers such as Balanchine, Forsythe, Kylian, and Lightfoot/Leon. He has also led several world premieres by choreographers such as Ekman and Strømgren, among others. In April 2017, he conducted the ballet Carmen during the Norwegian National Ballet’s guest performance in Vienna.

Skalstad is also a busy opera conductor with a focus on the Italian repertoire. He has conducted productions of *Rigoletto*, *Lucia di Lammermoor*, *Cenerentola*, *The Barber of Seville*, *The Marriage of Figaro*, *La clemenza di Tito*, *Carmen*, *Dido & Aeneas*, and others. Skalstad has worked with soloists such as Håkan Hardenberger, Barbara Hendriks, Martin Frøst, Isabelle van Keulen, Håvard Gimse, Truls Mørk, and Leif Ove Andsnes.