Johanna Wallroth, Brian Mulligan, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs & Edward Gardner
Biography Johanna Wallroth, Brian Mulligan, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Choirs & Edward Gardner
Johanna Wallroth
has already reached great heights in her young career including debuts at Wiener Staatsoper, Opernhaus Zürich and Glyndebourne Festival Opera, concerts at Berliner Philharmonie, Wiener Musikverein and Philharmonie de Paris and, following her acclaimed debut with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Harding as Zerlina in Mozart’s Don Giovanni, she was named Swedish Radio’s Artist in Residence for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons.
Wallroth’s busy 2024/25 season includes her debut at Royal Swedish Opera, singing Susanna in a new staging of Le Nozze di Figaro under Music Director Alan Gilbert and she returns to Drottningholms Slottsteater as Eurydice in Telemann’s Orpheus. On the concert platform, she joins Dalia Stasevska and Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra in Saariaho, Cinq reflets de l’amour de loin, both Daniel Harding with Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia and David Afkham with Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España in Schumann, Faustszenen, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider with Orchestre national de Lyon in Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été and with Concentus Musicus Wien under Stefan Gottfried at Vienna’s Musikverein for Handel, Alexander’s Feast. Much in demand in her native Sweden, Wallroth sings Brahms, Ein deutsches Requiem with Malmö Symphony Orchestra under Pierre Bleuse, Poulenc, Stabat Mater with Gothenburg Symphony, conducted by Aivis Greters and, with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, she presents the world premiere of Daniel Nelson’s I am monster under Daniel Raiskin.
Wallroth’s journey began at the Royal Swedish Ballet School where she initially trained as a dancer before shifting her focus to voice. She went on to graduate from Vienna’s Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst (MDW), gained international attention in 2019 when she secured first prize at the renowned Mirjam Helin International Singing Competition in Helsinki and represented Sweden in the 2023 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition.
Wallroth was a member of the Opernstudio of Wiener Staatsoper and demonstrated a musical and dramatic versatility beyond her years over two seasons in roles including Barbarina in Le nozze di Figaro under Music Director Philippe Jordan, Giannetta (L’Elisir d’amore), Une voix céleste (Don Carlos) and Ida (Die Fledermaus) all under Bertrand de Billy, La Contessa di Ceprano (Rigoletto) under Marco Armiliato, and Fortuna and Damigella in the new production of L’Incoronazione di Poppea under Pablo Heras-Casado. As a guest artist, she returned to Wiener Staatsoper in the 2022/23 season as Barbarina in Barrie Kosky’s acclaimed Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Philippe Jordan.
Beyond Vienna, Wallroth’s operatic experience includes highly praised debuts last season both at Glyndebourne Festival Opera as Cleopatra in David McVicar’s dynamic staging of Handel’s Giulio Cesare, conducted by Laurence Cummings and at Opéra de Normandie Rouen as Zerlina under Music Director Ben Glassberg. At Opernhaus Zürich, Johanna debuted in choreographer Christian Spück’s ballet collaboration based on Monteverdi’s Madrigals, conducted by Christoph Koncz, she sang Leocasta in Vivaldi’s Il Giustino at Sweden’s historic Drottningholm Festival under George Petrou and joined Stefan Gottfried and Concentus Musicus Wien at Internationale Barocktage Stift Melk as Belinda in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.
Hugely in demand on the concert platform, in recent seasons Johanna Wallroth has performed Barber, Knoxville with Sakari Oramo conducting Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Mendelssohn, A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Daniele Rustioni and Opéra National de Lyon, Mozart, Requiem with Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France under Barbara Hannigan and Schumann, Das Paradies und die Peri with Czech Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Daniel Harding. With Klaus Mäkelä and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, she has toured extensively in Mahler, Symphony No.4, with Orchestre de Paris and Daniel Harding she featured in Mahler, Symphony No.8 (Mater Gloriosa), she sang her first Beethoven, Symphony No.9 with Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin under Natalia Ponomarchuk, joined Barbara Hannigan and Danish National Symphony Orchestra in Debussy, La damoiselle elué and received impressive critical acclaim for her performance of Osvaldo Golijov’s Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra with Gävle Symfoniorkester under Vincenzo Milletari.
Wallroth’s special relationship with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra has seen her collaborate with Daniel Harding in both Berg, Sieben frühe Lieder and Mahler, Symphony No.4, with Alan Gilbert in Nielsen, Symphony No.3, with Andràs Schiff in Schubert, Mass in E‑flat and with Martin Fröst in an all-Mozart programme.
A celebrated recitalist, Wallroth was awarded the Birgit Nilsson Scholarship in 2021 and was named a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist in 2023, further highlighting her as an accomplished and exciting young artist. In recital with Magnus Svensson, she has performed at the historic Birgit Nilsson concert hall in Båstad, and with Kristian Attila at the Savonlinna Festival. With Malcolm Martineau, Johanna has recently performed at the Tivoli Festival, Grandi voci series at Göteborgs Operan, Helsinki Seriös, and in Spain at the Schubertiade series both in Vilabertran and Cantabria. In the current season, Wallroth joins Magnus Svensson at Stockholm’s Konserthuset and Michael Pandya at London’s Wigmore Hall.
Brian Mulligan
The Irish-American baritone Brian Mulligan studied at Yale University and the Juilliard School. He regularly works with the world’s leading opera houses and orchestras.
He begins the 2024/25 season in the title role of Der fliegende Holländer at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam under the baton of Jaap van Zweden and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest. He then returns to the Lyric Opera of Chicago as Don Pizarro in Fidelio, where he makes his role debut as Der Wanderer in Siegfried with the Hangzhou Philharmonic in China under the baton of Markus Stenz. Mulligan then makes another role debut as Alberich in Das Rheingold under the baton of Pablo Heras-Casado in a new production by Calixto Bieito at the Opéra National de Paris. He next returns to the Teatro San Carlo di Napoli as Jochanaan in Salome under the baton of Dan Ettinger and then sings the Dutchman again at the Philharmonie Luxembourg for performances in Luxembourg and Brussels. Mulligan then makes his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra as Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin before returning to the San Francisco Opera for the Pride Gala.
Brian Mulligan’s 2023/24 season began as Telramund in Lohengrin at San Francisco Opera before moving to Toulouse to sing Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten. With the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra under Yannick Nézet-Séguin, he toured to Baden-Baden and Paris as Wotan in Die Walküre. He has performed and recorded Brahms’ German Requiem with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Edward Gardener. At the Teatro Regio Torino he made his role debut as the Dutchman, a role he will also sing with the Hong Kong Philharmonic, the Luxembourg Philharmonic and others. Other upcoming productions include Fidelio (Pizarro) at the Chicago Lyric Opera and Salome (Jochanaan) at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.
The internationally sought-after artist is a regular guest at the most important opera houses, such as the Metropolitan Opera New York and the Zurich Opera, as well as at major festivals such as the Salzburg Festival and the Wiener Festwochen.
Brian Mulligan’s debut album, released in 2017 on the Naxos label, comprises two song cycles by Dominick Argento and was enthusiastically reviewed by the press. His second album, entitled Old Fashioned, consisting of American and British songs from the early 20th century, was released in 2019. Mahler’s 8th Symphony with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Gustavo Dudamel is available on DVD (Deutsche Grammophon).
Brian Mulligan’s third solo album entitled Alburnum was released in early 2022. It consists of songs and cycles from the 21st century, with pianist Timothy Long and music by Mason Bates, Missy Mazzoli and Greg Spears.
Edward Gardner
Principal Conductor, London Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director, Den Norske Opera & Ballett (DNO&B) Honorary Conductor, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
Edward Gardner is Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director of The Norwegian Opera and Ballet. He additionally serves as Honorary Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, following his tenure as Chief Conductor from 2015 to 2024.
Edward opens his inaugural season as Music Director of The Norwegian Opera and Ballet with concert performances of Wagner The Flying Dutchman and Mahler Symphony No. 2 'Resurrection'. He will then conduct two fully staged operas; Verdi La Traviata and Janáček The Cunning Little Vixen, following earlier productions of Bartok Bluebeard’s Castle, Zemlinsky A Florentine Tragedy and Verdi Un ballo in Maschera.
During his fourth season with the LPO, Edward will conduct nine concerts at the Royal Festival Hall as well as a US tour culminating at Carnegie Hall, and in major European cities including Vienna, Frankfurt and Hamburg. Highlights of their London season include Strauss Alpine Symphony, Ravel and Rachmaninov double bills and several world premieres, closing with Mahler Symphony No.8 Symphony of a Thousand.
In demand as a guest conductor, this season Edward appears with Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, Frankfurt Radio, Dallas Symphony, New World Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic, Sydney Symphony and West Australian Symphony Orchestras. Debuts in recent seasons include New York Philharmonic, The Philadelphia and Cleveland Orchestras, San Francisco Symphony, Staatskapelle Berlin Orchestra, Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, and Wiener Symphoniker; with re-invitations to Gewandhausorchester Leipzig, Montreal Symphony, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, and Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano. In the UK he has had longstanding collaborations with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, where he was Principal Guest Conductor from 2010-16, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, whom he has conducted at both the First and Last Night of the BBC Proms.
In Spring 2025 Edward returns to the Royal Opera House to conduct the world premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage Festen having made his debut with a new production of Káťa Kabanová, and he returns to Bayerische Staatsoper in June for Rusalka, following his debut with Peter Grimes in 2022 and Verdi Otello in 2023. Music Director of English National Opera for eight years (2007-15), Edward also built a strong relationship with The Metropolitan Opera with productions of Damnation of Faust, Carmen, Don Giovanni, Der Rosenkavalier and Werther. Elsewhere, he has conducted at La Scala, Chicago Lyric Opera, Glyndebourne Festival Opera and Opéra National de Paris.
