Gunvald Ottesen

Born in 1993, Gunvald Ottesen grew up in Stord, an island town on the west coast of Norway. He completed his masters degree in orchestral conducting at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, with B. Tommy Andersson in June 2020. Prior to this he did his bachelor degree in orchestral conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo with Ole Kristian Ruud and Sigmund Thorp, as well as one year as an exchange student in Stockholm, with Glenn Mossop. Gunvald also has a background as a violinist, studying with Terje Moe Hansen in Oslo and Jannica Gustafsson in Stockholm. Ottesen spent his younger years in theatre and musical theatre, which has led him to specialize his conducting career towards opera and musical theatre conducting. He also chose to write his masters thesis on the subject of opera conducting, to great acclaim from his professors.

Already as a student, Ottesen conducted several productions at the Oslo Operafestival, such as Don Giovanni in 2018 and Così fan tutte in 2019, as well as the world premiere of Kjell Habbestad’s opera Karlstad 1905 (2016). Parallell to his studies, he often worked as assistant conductor in larger scale productions, such as Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), Il Trovatore, both at Opera Østfold, and Don Giovanni at NorrlandsOperan. Just after finishing his masters degree, he made his professional debut with Gothenburg Opera, conducting a production of the musical Cabaret. In 2021, he was music director for the Norwegian premiere production of the Swedish musical Kristina från Duvemåla at Bømlo Teater, a production he reprised in 2023.

Ottesen made his house debut at Folkoperan in Stockholm in the spring of 2022 with German director Ulrike Schwab’s production of Così fan tutte, which was revived at Uppsala Stadsteater the following season. In December 2022 he made his house debut at Bergen National Opera and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra with Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors. He returned to Folkoperan in Stockholm in the fall season of 2023, as first conductor for Tidens Larm.

During the 2024/25 season, Ottesen will make his debut at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo, with Christmas concerts together with the opera orchestra. Later in the season, he will conduct a production of Così fan tutte at the same house, together with WOYS Young Artists. This season also sees Ottesen conducting the world premiere of the chamber opera nara at the Borealis Festival in Bergen, which will also be played in the Cacoyannis Foundation Theatre in Athens.

Ottesen has worked extensively as assistant conductor in opera productions. After assisting conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen in Simon McBurney’s acclaimed production of Die Zauberflöte at Bergen National Opera, he returned to the company spring 2024 to assist Austrian conductor Alfred Eschwé in a new production of Die Fledermaus. In the spring of 2023 he assisted Swedish conductor Tobias Ringborg in a new production of Così fan tutte at the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet in Oslo.

Ottesen also enjoys working with symphonic orchestras, and in recent years he has conducted orchestras like the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Philharmonic in Norway, and Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Gävle Symphony Orchestra and Västerås Sinfonietta as well as the orchestras of Gothenburg Opera and NorrlandsOperan in Sweden. He has also worked several times with the Royal Swedish Navy Band, The Norwegian Navy Band in Bergen, and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble.

During the period 2019-2021, Ottesen was a participant in the Norwegian elite conducting program Dirigentforum, aiming to give experience and masterclasses to the most talented young conductors in Norway.

Updated November 2024