|
The Danish tenor, Christian Damsgaard, studied at Aarhus Katedralskole (1989-1992). He obtained his Bachelor of Music degree in Classical Singing/Opera from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam with Udo Reinemann and Margreet Honig (2001-2005), and his Master’s degree in Musicology and Rhetoric from the University of Aarhus (1995-2008). He has also, as the first Danish ever, studied Baroque & Classical Singing at Le Centre de Musique Baroque de Versaillles in France (2000-2001). Since his graduation he has continuously refined his talent with renowned singers and vocal coaches in Denmark and abroad such as Tonny Landy, Ulrich Stærk, Klavs Lewinsky, John Lidal (Oslo) and Gregory Lamar (Berlin).
Christian Damsgaard started working at freelance singer in 2002. He was a member of De Nederlandse Bachvereniging (Director: Jos van Veldhoven) from 2003 to 2011; Ars Nova Copenhagen (Current Director: Paul Hillier) from 2009 to 2011; Paulus Barokk from 2011 to 2013. He is a very versatile singer with a flexible tenor voice and great musical curiosity, and thus his repertoire spans a wide and varied range of musical styles and genres: he sings opera, oratorio, art songs and cabaret tunes - from early Baroque works via full-blown Romantic opera to the latest compositions of the 21st century.
Christian Damsgaard made his debut at the Royal Danish Opera in Copenhagen in 2014 as the mad prince Carlo Gesualdo in the world premiere of Bo Holten's opera Gesualdo-Shadows and the following year at the Danish National Opera in Aarhus as Juan in Massenet's Don Quichotte. In 2016 he returned to the Danish National Opera as Goro in a highly succesful production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly under the baton of Christian Kluxen and to the Royal Danish Opera as Arv in Nielsen’s Maskarade. Furthermore this year he sang Gildenstern in the world premiere of Hugi Gudmundsson and Jakob Weis’s Hamlet in Absentia at Kronborg Castle with Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen and Jakob Hultberg.
Christian Damsgaard works as a freelance singer with a large number of different orchestras and ensembles in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, and performs with equal pleasure and fervour in solo pieces and chamber music. He has performed and recorded operas with renowned conductors such as Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Michael Schønwandt, Nicholas Cleobury, Christian Kluxen, Peter Spissky, Olof Boman, Kjell Seim and Benjamin Bayl. On stage he has worked with opera directors such as Annilees Miskimmon, Deda Christina Colonna, Stephen Barlow and Elisabeth Linton. His talent for musical comedy won him much acclaim in the part of the servant Arv in Nielsen's Maskarade and the notary Pascal Dumont in the revival of Schierbeck's Fête Galante; both on cd with Michael Schønwandt and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra.
His latest opera roles are Rinuccio in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi (Oslo, July 2013), Mercurius in Kraus' Proserpin (Potsdam, June 2013), Don José in Georges Bizet's Carmen (Stavanger/Sandnes, October 2012), a buffo notary in the revival of Danish composer Poul Schierbeck's Fête Galante (Copenhagen, June 2012, released on cd with Michael Schønwandt and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra in May 2013), and the double part as the two old nurses, Arnalta and Nutrice, in the premiere of a new Danish version of L’incoronazione di Poppea by Monteverdi at the Copenhagen Music Theatre (September 2011). In July 2013 he premiered 5 Songs about Death for tenor, piano and flute written for him by Danish composer Jens Vrå. He currently lives in Copenhagen, Denmark. |
