Brilliant Christmas - Christmas is sung in at Teater Bislett

Brilliant Christmas - Christmas is sung in at Teater Bislett We invite you to an atmospheric Christmas concert featuring the three opera singers Ivi Karnezi (soprano), Patrick Egersborg (bass-baritone), and Stian Økland (tenor). Accompanying them on piano and organ is pianist Stefan Ibsen Zlatanos. During the concert, you will hear well-known and beloved Christmas songs such as O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, My Heart Will Always Wander , and not least O Holy Night. There will also be performances of excerpts from famous operatic works and some surprises. We look forward to filling Vestre frikirke with Christmas songs and bringing the audience into the musical pre-Christmas atmosphere. Participants Ivi Karnezi - soprano The Greek-Norwegian soprano Ivi Karnezi made her professional debut at the Opéra de Lyon in 2010, which led to her first leading role as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni at the Gut Immling Opera Festival in Germany. Later, she became a member of the ensemble at Staatstheater Braunschweig, where she made significant role debuts, including Elisabetta di Valois (Don Carlo), Vitellia (La clemenza di Tito), Mimì (La bohème), Micaela (Carmen), Hanna Glawari (The Merry Widow), and Tatjana (Eugene Onegin). In 2021, she made her debut as Aida at the Jyske Opera and reprised the role in the summer of 2022 at Staatstheater Braunschweig's Open Air festival, and at Theater Pforzheim in the autumn of 2023. In the autumn of 2022, she participated in gala concerts with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and made her debut at the Bergen National Opera as the Mother in Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, a role she will also perform in 2024. In spring 2024, she sang Rosalinde in Die Fledermaus in Bergen. In 2025, she will also sing the role of Hulda by César Franck at Opera Lillehammer and has been nominated for the Hedda Award for Best Performance of a Role in Musical Theatre. In 2026, she will be featured as Queen Bibbi Jeanette in the opera The Night People at the Bergen National Opera, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera, and the Norwegian Opera & Ballet. Stian Økland - tenor Stian Økland from Bergen is a highly versatile musician and singer. He is educated as a classical singer/opera singer from the Grieg Academy and the Wales International Academy of Voice under Professor Dennis O'Neill and Nuccia Focile. Between 2017 and 2020, he was a permanent member of the Trondheim Vocal Ensemble (TVE). As an opera soloist, he has sung roles such as Rodolfo (La Boheme), Faust, Tamino (The Magic Flute), and Don José (Carmen) both in Norway and internationally. His large, baritone tenor voice can also be heard in the band Seven Impale, an internationally recognized prog rock band that Økland started in 2010. With three critically acclaimed studio albums, the band is predicted to have a bright future in the music world. Here, Økland also plays guitar, his original main instrument. He is also a lyricist and composer for the band. Patrick Egersborg - bass-baritone Patrick Egersborg is a Norwegian bass-baritone, educated at HfM Hanns Eisler in Berlin and the Norwegian Academy of Opera in Oslo (KhiO), and has been active as a soloist throughout Scandinavia since graduating in 2014. He has sung roles such as Silvio and Tonio (Pagliacci) as well as Marco (Gianni Schicchi) at the Copenhagen Opera Festival and Opera Søholm. In 2023, he made his debut as Count di Luna (Il trovatore) with the Opera in Kristiansund and that same year sang Mr. Ford (Merry Wives of Windsor) at The Grimeborn Festival in London. He has also performed roles in productions at Opera Østfold, Ringsaker Opera, Oslo Opera Festival, The Open Opera, Skeive Stemmer, and is an active concert singer. Patrick is also project manager and singer in Operakollektivet. In 2024, he will perform the solo show Is This It? at the Herning Opera Festival and Culture Meeting Mors, which will also be presented during the opera festival Operudagar in Reykjavik in 2026. Stefan Ibsen Zlatanos - pianist Stefan's versatility spans classical, jazz, pop, contemporary musi