Christian Øland

Energetic and clear in his natural musicality, Christian Øland is one of the most sought-after young Scandinavian conductors of his generation. In his repertoire he effortlessly shifts between musical styles, genres, periods, and registers: from Haydn and Beethoven to Mahler, Strauss, and Bruckner, Nordic classics such as Nielsen or Sibelius, 20th-century works by Poulenc or Martinů, up to the latest compositions by contemporary composers. 

As Chief Conductor of the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra and General Music Director of the Magdeburg Philharmonic, Christian Øland takes on two new chief positions in the 2025/26 season, creating a wide variety of programs, including a concert featuring Beethoven’s 9th Symphony in commemoration of the destruction of the city of Magdeburg, as well as programs with works by, among others, Carl Nielsen, Dmitri Shostakovich, Elisabeth Ogonek, Igor Stravinsky, Max Bruch, and Anna Clyne. With the Magdeburg Philharmonic he is conducting Jules Massenet’s Manon Lescaut for the first time, as well as Drifting Out, a dance production with choreographies by Iratxe Ansa, Igor Bacovich, and Yaron Shamir. Important debuts and re-invitations have led him to the podium of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Danish Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic, Copenhagen Philharmonic, and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. 

Christian Øland also achieved early successes in music and dance theater. In the 2024/25 season, he took over the musical direction of a production of Poul Schierbeck's opera Fête Galante at the Danish National Opera, the first complete performance of the work since the 1960s. In 2023 he conducted the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Danish Playhouse in the world premiere of Leaning Tree, a commissioned work by the Danish Dance Theater with music by Signe Lykke. The production was subsequently nominated for the prestigious Reumert Award, Denmark's national theater award. Other significant productions included Mats Ek's highly acclaimed choreography Julia and Romeo at the Royal Swedish Ballet, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker with the Royal Danish Ballet, and The World of John Neumeier with the Hamburg Ballet. He conducted performances of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream with the Helsinki Sinfonietta and in 2024 Bizet's Carmen at the Magdeburg Theater, after previously collaborating on three concerts with the Magdeburg Philharmonic. Subsequently, the orchestra unanimously chose him as its General Music Director. 

Christian Øland was born in 1994 and studied piano and bassoon. At the age of 18 he was admitted to the conducting class at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where his teachers and mentors included Atso Almila, Hannu Lintu, Leif Segerstam, Jorma Panula, Herbert Blomstedt, and Esa-Pekka Salonen. Just one year later, he became the assistant to Hannu Lintu at the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Soon he conducted his own concerts. This was followed by invitations to all major Scandinavian orchestras, including the Copenhagen Philharmonic, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Royal Swedish Orchestra, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. In 2016 Christian Øland received the prestigious Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Talent Award.

2025/26 Season

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