In December 2024, the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie premieres a brand new opera based on the 1982 Ingmar Bergman film "Fanny and Alexander". Music by Mikael Karlsson and libretto by Royce Vavrek. Ivo van Hove directs the piece. The cast includes Sasha Cooke (Emilie), Thomas Hampson (Bishop Vergerus), Peter Tantsits (Oscar), Doris Soffel (Helena), […]

Maria Radutu is one of Europe's leading pianists. She recorded "Sovereign" by Mikael Karlsson for her album "Phoenix". Her new concert program "The Liberation of Classical Music" which premieres in the legendary MuTh Konzertsaal in Vienna on April 28 finishes with Mikael's "Ragtime" which was written for five pianos as part of Alexander Ekman's "Rooms", […]

Four dancers as rock stars in “Little Concert” – a dance piece of contrasts for young people. It is wild and elegant, passionate and depressing. Internationally, GöteborgsOperans Danskompani are almost as acclaimed as rock stars. Tickets for their tour performances sell out all over the world. When four of the dancers go on tour in […]

Alexander Ekman's PLAY, created for the Paris Opera Ballet, goes to Tokyo, Japan. All the same musicians, including Callie Day, will perform there. I will be there for the premiere.

For this one Michael P. Atkinson and I have composed the score together. Renaissance meets punk in Scottish Ballet’s retelling of the story of one of Scotland’s most famous women. Two women. Two crowns. One story. As her death approaches, Elizabeth I of England is haunted by memories – both real and imagined – of […]

Participants Omer Meir Wellber, conductor Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra Swedish Radio Choir Works Mikael Karlsson & Anna von Hausswolff: Grand Guignol 42 min (final orchestration by Michael P. Atkinson) Claude Debussy: Nocturnes 25 min Alexander Skriabin: Poème de l'extase, Op. 54 22 min Grand Guignol is based on a type of theatre that was born […]

”Romeo och Julia” med Unga Klara, 6–7 september, Sergels torg.

Anne Sofie von Otter and Pekka Kuusisto perform the song cycle So We Will Vanish with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra on a program that includes Ellen Reid's music on January 28 and again January 29. SO WE WILL VANISH 1. Doggerland 2. Firehawks 3. Saint Helena Olive Music: Mikael Karlsson Text: Royce Vavrek Orchestration: Michael […]

Mary, Queen of Scots comes to Sadler's Wells March 5-8 2026. More info about Mary, Queen of Scots on the dedicated page on this website. CHOREOGRAPHY, STORY: Sophie Laplane DIRECTION, STORY: James Bonas MUSIC: Michael P. Atkinson, Mikael Karlsson LIGHTING DESIGN: Bonnie Beecher SET, COSTUME DESIGN: Soutra Gilmour PROJECTION, VIDEO DESIGN: Anouar Brissel

What can video contribute to choreography? Can the camera itself become choreographic, making dance more visceral? These are some of the questions underlying Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple’s artistic research. In Empreintes, the two British choreographers make their Paris Opera debut with a creation exploring the links between video and dance, set to an original […]

Anne Sofie von Otter and Pekka Kuusisto perform the song cycle So We Will Vanish with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra on a program that includes Anna Thorvaldsdottir's Catamorphosis on January 28 and again January 29. SO WE WILL VANISH 1. Doggerland 2. Firehawks 3. Saint Helena Olive Music: Mikael Karlsson Text: Royce Vavrek Orchestration: Michael […]

Joffrey Ballet brings Alexander Ekman's "Midsummer Night's Dream" to Zellerbach Hall, Berkeley, CA (USA). More info about Midsummer Night's Dream on my dedicated webpage for the piece. "Straying far from Shakespeare’s familiar path, the peerless Joffrey Ballet returns to Berkeley with Alexander Ekman’s daring and exuberant Midsummer Night’s Dream, a mind-bending trip to a surreal […]