Henrik Vagn Christensen

INTRODUCTION

Henrik Vagn Christensen is a diverse conductor with a repertoire that spans the broad range of art forms and genres: symphonies, new music, opera, operetta and musicals – and then the ballet!

RECENT AND FUTURE ENGAGEMENTS

Most recent and future engagements include projects in some of the leading opera houses, notably La Sylphide by Nourrit and Taglioni at the Royal Danish Opera (2022) and the Hamburg State Opera (2026, in a program featuring also Ether, a world premiere by principal dancer and choreographer Aleix Martínez).

In Denmark, his work spans a wide range of major orchestras and institutions. He has ongoing collaborations with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, including multiple re-invitations to conduct The Nutcracker (ballet) and various concerts and recordings. With the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, he has conducted many concerts, including a collaboration with RITMO. His engagements with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra include a DR Christmas Calendar, a New Year’s Concert, a program featuring film music by John Williams, Mathias Madsen Munch’s The Neverending Maze concert, a trumpet competition, a recording, and a Christmas concert at Musikkens Hus Aalborg.

Further Danish engagements begin with collaborations with DR (Denmark’s Radio), alongside concerts with Orkester Midtvest and performances of Fjeren og Rosen (concert) with BaggårdTeatret. He has also led Den Kongelige Livgardes Musikkorps (including in a Christmas concert), Prinsens Musikkorps, and Slesvigske Musikkorps (SMUK) (including New Year’s concerts). His collaborations extend to the Danish Chamber Orchestra, where he has conducted a Brahms concert, a Christmas concert, Red Bull Symphonic: Benny Jamz, and school concerts.

Additional projects in Denmark include the Carl Nielsen Reunion Concert at Bramstrup Estate with Helene Blum, Harald Haugaard, and the Ringe Kirkes Pigekor choir, as well as Martin Byrial’s The Gratitude Concert (world premiere) in Aalborg (2023). He has also conducted an anniversary concert with Ensemble Storstrøm and made a recording for the Danish television series Tidsrejsen.

In southern Denmark, he has collaborated extensively with the Sønderjyllands Symfoniorkester on projects such as Den Uendelige Labyrint (The Neverending Maze), as well as concerts with MGK Syd and with students from Kolding Kulturskole.

Internationally, he has conducted the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in Sweden, a.o.

BIOGRAPHY

Henrik Vagn Christensen is regarded as his generation’s leading Danish ballet conductor, and has been associated with The Royal Danish Ballet from 1996 to 2012 and as from 2013 – The New York City Ballet. Henrik Vagn Christensen has also conducted the Finnish National Ballet, The Royal Swedish Ballet, The Norwegian Opera, State Theatre in Pretoria, Teatro Real de Madrid and Marinskij Theater in St. Petersburg. His very close cooperation with both The Danish National Chamber Orchestra and The Danish National Symphony Orchestra has offered many and varied tasks from concerts to ballet to recordings for film and TV.

The Danish regional orchestras have been the starting point for the symphonic repertoire, and Henrik Vagn Christensen has over the years played countless concerts with all of them and made ​​CD recordings and concert productions for children and the young audience. The professional brass repertoire has also been in focus, and Henrik Vagn Christensen has thus been Artistic Director / Chief Conductor of both Prinsen’s Musikkorps (2003-2009) and Den Kgl. Livgardes Musikkorps (2006-2009).

Born in 1963, and educated at The Royal Academies of Music in Aalborg, Aarhus and Copenhagen, Henrik Vagn Christensen studied with the conductors Jorma Panula, Frans Rasmussen and Tamàs Vetö. Furthermore, he studied in Stockholm and London before his debut concert with the Copenhagen Philharmonic in 1994.