about me 

Norwegian conductor Per Kristian Skalstad works regularly with the major Norwegian orchestras. Since his debut as a conductor in 2002, he has done a large number of ballets, operas and symphonic concerts all over Norway, in Sweden, Germany and Austria, and on chamber orchestra tours to Denmark, England, Belgium, Russia and the US.

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This season and the next, Skalstad conducts the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, The Royal Ballet in Copenhagen, the Finnish National Ballet, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the Trondheim Soloists, the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, and the Arctic Philharmonic.

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Since 2004, Skalstad has been a frequent guest conductor for the Norwegian National Ballet. He has conducted more than 30 productions; such as Giselle, Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen and Don Quijote, along with works by Balanchine, Kylian, Forsythe and Lightfoot/Leon, and a number of world premiere productions.

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He is re- invited to the Finnish National Ballet and makes his debut with the Royal Ballet in Copenhagen next year. Skalstad has also conducted for the Nederlands Dance Theatre.

Skalstad is very much at home in the opera repertoire, and has done stage productions of The marriage of Figaro, La clemenza di Tito, The barber of Sevilla, Dido and Aeneas, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, Carmen, Britten ́s “Let’s make an opera” and others. He has also done contemporary opera, such as “The Kiberg Odyssé” by Trygve Brøske and “The Witches” by Marcus Paus.

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Per Kristian Skalstad has conducted the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (NCO) a number of times, with sololists like Leif Ove Andsnes, Isabelle Van Keulen, Ian Bostridge, Gidon Kremer, Paul Lewis, Lars Anders Tomter, Truls Mørk, Martin Frost, Tine Ting Helseth and Jean Guihen Quyeras. He premiered the piano concerto “La Mattina” by Bent Sørensen with Andsnes and the NCO in 2009, and has since then taken this work on tours to the Bergen Festival, Musikhalle Hamburg, the Proms in Albert Hall and the Ojay Music Festival in California, USA. In 2018, Skalstad recorded this piece with Andsnes and the NCO.

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Skalstad is artistic director of the Telemark Chamber Orchestra, (TKO) where he normally leads as a violin player. The TKO has a strong focus on contemporary music, with regular collaborations with Norwegian composers. 

Per Kristian Skalstad was for 12 years assistent concertmaster of the Norwegian Opera Orchestra, a long time member of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Oslo String Quartet