Meet the founders

Meet the founders of the summer academy Opera by the fjord, Sascha Goetzel and Eivind Gullberg Jensen

Bergen National Opera are proud to launch our first ever summer academy, which takes place 16. - 21. August 2021, by the majestic Bjørnafjorden near Bergen.

The idea for the academy was conceived by BNO's Artistic Director Eivind Gullberg Jensen, and fellow conductor Sascha Goetzel from Vienna. Both founders are passionate about opera, and providing young artists with support and guidance while studying.

Learn more about their ideas for the academy in this conversation recorded in July 2021:

Latest news

Applications now open!

Apply now! Opera by the Fjord - Summer Academy 2025

What happens in The Dead City?

Get ready for an extraordinary love triangle: The amorous and confused Paul stands between two women who look completely identical: One is his deceased wife Marie, the other is the vivacious dancer Marietta.

A prodigy rediscovered

Erich Wolfgang Korngold had an extraordinary life, buffeted between three very different worlds: Mahler’s Vienna, Errol Flynn’s Hollywood, and the years of reckoning that followed World War II.

What happens in Die Fledermaus?

In our new production the story is moved from Vienna in the 19th century to the Norwegian cities of Bergen and Oslo in our own time.

Albert Domen as Wotan in Bayreuth Foto Enrico Nawrath WEB

WANTED: Wotan, Sarastro & Fafner (2024)

Do you wish to be the greatest god of all at our Summer Academy 2024? Or the high priest and also a giant? We are now searching for two male singers in the roles as Wotan – and Sarastro & Fafner. Application deadline: March 8, 2024. // The application forms are now closed. //

Three from the Vienna Philharmonic will teach at our Summer Academy 2024

The students at this year's summer academy (2024) will get the chance to perform together with top professionals from orchestras in Vienna and the Nordic countries.