CHRISTIAN ØLAND

‍Christian Øland is one of the Nordic region’s most promising young conducting talents. Highlights of the 2024/25 season includes returns to Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Philharmonic, Theater Magdeburg/Magdeburg Philharmoniker, and South Denmark Philharmonic, as well as Øland’s debut with The Danish National Opera conducting the long awaited opera ‘Fête Galante’ by the danish composer Poul Schierbeck.

In season 2023/24 Øland conducted the Copenhagen Philharmonic in the highly anticipated world premiere of the symphonic contemporary dance work ‘Leaning Tree’ by Danish composer Signe Lykke. The production has since then been nominated for the Reumert Prize in the category ‘Best Dance Performance’. The season also brought debuts with both Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and Iceland Symphony Orchestra.

Christian Øland has previously worked with orchestras such as The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Danish Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Iceland Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Swedish Orchestra (The Royal Swedish Opera and Ballet), Magdeburg Philharmoniker, Slovak State Philharmonic, Copenhagen Philharmonic, South Denmark Philharmonic, The Wermland Opera, The Nordic Chamber Orchestra, and Jönköping Sinfonietta. In his home country Denmark, Christian Øland is a regular guest conductor with all of the regional orchestras.

Equally at home in concert halls and opera houses, Christian Øland has conducted, among others, Mats Ek’s landmark production of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Juliet and Romeo’ at the Royal Swedish Ballet, a full production of Tchaikovsky's ‘The Nutcracker’ at The Royal Danish Ballet, as well as The Hamborg Ballet in ‘The World of John Neumeier’. Christian Øland has conducted a fully staged production of Britten’s opera ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ with Helsinki Sinfonietta, and worked as Assistant Conductor at the prestigious Savonlinna Opera Festival in Finland in 2018 and 2019.

Øland was born in Denmark in 1994 and has studied in the renowned orchestral conducting class of The Sibelius Academy in Helsinki. He was admitted to The Sibelius Academy when he was 18 years old, and after only one year of studies, he was appointed Assistant Conductor of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra by the orchestra’s Chief Conductor Hannu Lintu and led the orchestra in concert. He worked closely with the FRSO’s visiting conductors including Esa Pekka Salonen and Herbert Blomstedt. Furthermore, Christian Øland conducted the orchestra's educational and youth concerts as well as productions of contemporary music.

Before commencing his conducting studies, Christian Øland studied bassoon and piano in Denmark. Simultaneously with his conducting studies, he played as a bassoonist with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. His teachers and professors at The Sibelius Academy have included conductors such as Atso Almila, Hannu Lintu, Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, Herbert Blomstedt, and Esa-Pekka Salonen.

In 2016, Øland received the Carl Nielsen Talent Prize and the same year he was awarded the Arne Hammelboe Travel Scholarship by The Danish Conductors Association.