MEET EL 2011 KEYNOTE SPEAKER KASPER HOLTEN

One of the brilliant keynotes speakers of the EL 2011 Northern Light is Kasper Holten, who is currently the Artistic Director of the Royal Danish Opera. Mr Holten will be taking over the Royal Opera House in London after the season 2010/2011.

During his career, Holten has been praised for many remarkable artistic achievements. As a director he has staged more than 60 productions of opera, drama, operetta and musical theatre in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, France, Austria, Latvia, USA and Russia. His production of Wagner’s Ring in Copenhagen 2003-2006 received international acclaim.

Holten has been awarded many international prizes for his work. He won the 2001 Reumert
Award in both the Performance of the Year and Director of the Year categories for his
production of Hamlet at Aalborg Theatre; and in 1999 and 2000, he was awarded in the Best
Music Theatre category. Holten has also received prizes and honours from the Danish Wagner
Society, the Danish Arts Council, and Prince Henrik Foundation.

In EL 2011 Northern Light, Mr Holten’s keynote is titled “Can Emotions, Experiences and
Creativity Be Directed?”

Kasper Holten is also well-known to the Finnish opera audience. In autumn 2010 he directed
Erich Korngold’s Die tote Stadt at the Finnish national opera. Holten’s work as a visiting director
was a great success, praised by local and international reviewers alike. Here is what Göran
Forsling from Seen and Heard International said about the production: “I regard Die tote Stadt
as one of the greatest operas of the fi rst quarter of the 20th century and the Finnish National
Opera’s production makes it stand out as a true masterpiece, scenically and musically.”