Mikael Karlsson

Midsummer Night's Dream - Stockholm
2024-05-08 - 2024-05-18 | Royal Swedish Opera, Gustav Adolfs torg 2, Stockholm, 11152, Sweden
Alexander Ekman’s hit MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM is back at the Royal Swedish Opera
A universal theme, the same longing for light summer nights, a dream of the origin of everything, a night of love and lust. The boundary between reality and the supernatural is unclear. Traditions are distorted, the world changes, and all of a sudden we become uncertain – is it all a dream?
The celebrated Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman created the acclaimed performance Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Royal Swedish Ballet. Like Tyll, Escapist, and most recently Cacti (part of Ekman/Hjálmarsdóttir/Naharin), it was an immediate success at the Royal Swedish Opera. The music is by New York-based Mikael Karlsson, who apart from several collaborations with Ekman has written the opera Melancholia, with world premiere at the Royal Swedish Opera in 2023.
(from the RSO website)

So We Will Vanish - Copenhagen
2024-09-26 - 2024-09-27
Mikael Karlsson’s song cycle So We Will Vanish about the destruction of the natural landscape is dedicated to the Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Text by Royce Vavrek and Orchestration by Michael P. Atkinson and Mikael Karlsson. At Berwaldhallen von Otter meets the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The concert will open with Bruckner’s 4th Symphony.

Forever - Stockholm
2024-09-27 - 2024-11-09 | Royal Swedish Opera, Gustav Adolfs torg 2, Stockholm, 11152, Sweden
Dance piece by Mari Carrasco. 40 minutes. On the small stage at the Royal Swedish Opera.
Who hasn’t felt alone at a party at some point, despite being among people? In the dance performance Forever, the audience is part of an ongoing party in the Opera’s Rotunda. During the performance they go from being observers from a distance to participants. The piece revolves around life and death, sorrow and hope, and being part of a continuous flow. How can one be an individual and part of a group at the same time? The show is primarily aimed at audiences in upper secondary school and high school.
Mari Carrasco is one of today’s most interesting and acclaimed choreographers. Together with her creative team – Mikael Karlsson, celebrated for several collaborations with the choreographer Alexander Ekman and most recently for the opera Melancholia; as well as Jenny Nordberg’s at naturalistic yet artificial scenography, and Mira Svanberg’s evocative lighting design – they create a performance entirely based on the venue.

So We Will Vanish - Stockholm
2024-10-04 - 2024-10-05 | Berwaldhallen, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 3, Stockholm, 115 27, Sweden
Mikael Karlsson’s song cycle So We Will Vanish about the destruction of the natural landscape is dedicated to the Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra. Text by Royce Vavrek and Orchestration by Michael P. Atkinson and Mikael Karlsson. At Berwaldhallen von Otter meets the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. The concert will open with the multifaceted piece The Ring of Fire and Love by the Finnish composer Outi Tarkiainen. The evening’s final piece is Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s fourth symphony, inspired by his brief, unhappy marriage.

Titta en Älg - Stockholm
2024-10-16 - 2024-12-06 | Royal Dramatic Theater (Dramaten), Nybrogatan 2, Stockholm, Stockholm, 114 34, Sweden
A play in two acts by legendary Swedish playwright Kristina Lugn, directed by Mellika Melouani Melani, at the Royal Dramatic Theater (Dramaten) in Stockholm.
The play is in Swedish, with no subtitles.
Description in Swedish from the Dramaten homepage.

verpastej och döden. Medelålder och avgrund. Kristina Lugns Titta en älg handlar om kvinnorna som lyckats lägga band på sig. Som sökt skydd i äktenskap och folkhälsomyndigheter. Som anpassat sig till självupplösning och nu står på en perrong och undrar vilka de är och vart de ska ta vägen. Men vi möter också kvinnorna som faktiskt släppt loss, som förvildats, som gnäggar lite för högt.
Mellika Melouani Melanis uppsättning är en hyllning till den egensinniga, djupsinniga, absurt roliga och helt unika dramatikern Kristina Lugn, där pjäsen Titta en älg hemsöks av scener, rollfigurer, dikter och citat ur andra Lugn-verk.
Kristina Lugn (1948-2020) är en av Sveriges mest uppmärksammade författare, kritikerhyllad och folkkär, kompromisslös och tillgänglig, hysteriskt rolig och ogenerat sorglig. Med sin unika formuleringsförmåga har hon ofta lyckats sätta fingret på sin samtid, på det absurda i vardagen – och inte minst samhällets omöjliga förväntningar på kvinnor: ”Jag har försökt verka trevlig. Och lagom fotbollsintresserad.”
På scen medverkar kören Stockholm City Voices med ett tjugotal sångerskor i olika åldrar. Nyskriven musik av Mikael Karlsson, kompositören bakom operan Melancholia som bygger på Lars von Triers film, och flera av Alexander Ekmans verk.
Mellika Melouani Melani är regissör och tidigare konstnärlig ledare på Folkoperan. 2021 satte hon upp Kristina Lugns Idlaflickorna i Göteborg.

Fanny and Alexander - Brussels
2024-12-01 - 2024-12-31 | La Monnaie De Munt, Pl. de la Monnaie, Brussels, Brussels, 1000, Belgium
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), Anne Sofie von Otter (Justina), Loa Falkman (Isak), Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen (Ismael), Gavan Ring (Gustav Adolf), Justin Hopkins (Carl) and more to come.
Conductor is Ariane Matiakh.
Orchestration by Michael P. Atkinson and Mikael Karlsson.
Exact dates and more info to come when La Monnaie announce their 2024-25 season.

Maria Radutu piano recital - "Ragtime" - Muth Konzertsaal - Vienna
2025-04-28 19:30 - 21:00 UTC | Muth Konzertsaal, Vienna, Am Augartenspitz 1, Vienna, 1020, Austria
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”, but now reduced to a single piano thanks to the Steinway Spiro system that allows live performance to be mixed with pre-recorded self-playing mechanisms on a single grand piano.
Other composers on the program: Alexander Skrjabin, Alberto Ginastera, Robert Schumann, Nikolai Kapustin.
From the website:
How can new technologies be leveraged to enrich the concert experience in diverse ways? The Austrian-Romanian pianist Maria Radutu enjoys creating opportunities to experience classical music from a fresh perspective. This time, with the help of her partner Steinway & Sons and its Spiro system, she engages in a dialogue with piano legends like Vladimir Horowitz, Glenn Gould and Gina Bachauer. Radutu facilitates this interaction between herself and the great masters, forging connections across past, present and future, allowing her audience to experience classical music in an excitingly novel and unconventional manner.

Mari Carrasco's "Little Concert" - Gothenburg Opera Dance Company, Tour in Sweden (Sweden)
2025-05-08 - 2025-11-29
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 Västra Götaland, they are not only dancers but also rock stars: a garage band surrounded by the audience, who in turn are enveloped by the music.
Choreographer Mari Carrasco creates energetic and twisted worlds with a strong affinity for music. In Little Concert, which has its world premiere during the Göteborg Opera Dance Festival in May 2025, the music is created by composer Mikael Karlsson, who has also composed the music for Alexander Ekman’s dance piece Hammer.
The piece will tour in Region Västra Götaland

Alexander Ekman's "Play" - New National Theater - Tokyo
2025-07-25 - 2025-07-27 | New National Theater – Opera Palace, Tokyo, Japan
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.

Sophie Laplane's and James Bonas' "Mary, Queen of Scots" - Edinburgh International Festival
2025-08-15 - 2025-08-17 | Festival Theater, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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 her cousin and rival, Mary, Queen of Scots. Bound by blood yet divided by power, their lives were a dangerous dance of ambition, intrigue and betrayal.
The two queens’ fraught relationship is explored in this stunning world premiere from Scottish Ballet’s choreographer-in-residence Sophie Laplane and co-creator James Bonas. With striking designs by Soutra Gilmour (Sunset Boulevard) and a bold new score from the team behind the 2022 International Festival sensation Coppélia, Mary, Queen of Scots reimagines the story of one of Scotland’s most famous women.
This new production imagines a Renaissance where punk meets haute couture, and where Mary and Elizabeth’s relationship inspires a rich, resonant journey through memory, history and myth.
Scottish Ballet
Sophie Laplane Choreographer & Co-Creator
James Bonas Director & Co-Creator
Mikael Karlsson & Michael P Atkinson Original Score
Soutra Gilmour Set & Costume Designer
Bonnie Beecher Lighting Designer
Anouar Brissel Projection & Video Design
There will be a post-show talk on 16 Aug after the matinee performance. Post-show talks are an informal opportunity for you to connect further with artists. It will begin 10 minutes after the performance ends and is expected to last no more than 30 minutes. You are welcome to stay for as little or as long as suits you.

Grand Guignol (with Anna von Hausswolff, Swedish Radio Symphony and Choir), Berwaldhallen, Stockholm
2025-08-29 19:00 - 21:30 | Berwaldhallen, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 3, Stockholm, 115 27, Sweden
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 at the Théâtre du Grand Guignol in the Pigalle district of Paris in the 19th century. The primary function of these innovative and popular plays was to make the audience sensuously awaken from the mundaneness of everyday life and experience shocking, frightening, seductive, carnal and hypnotic stories that were not accepted in the high culture of the time.
Anna von Hausswolff and Mikael Karlsson have composed a piece for the Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Radio Choir that celebrates the uplifting powers of darkness and that, in the Grand Guignol tradition, embraces stories and sounds that call us to places we reflexively flee from. There, in the borderland between physical, ritual music and the tickling allure of the darkest stories, we encounter Grand Guignol.
The piece uses pulsating intensity and alternating waves of calm and aggression to create a space through text, music, and electronics in surround where great emotions and sensual liberation are at the center and where the terrible and the beautiful are embraced on equal terms – an aesthetic that characterizes both composers’ previous music.

Unga Klara's "Romeo & Julia" - Sergels Torg, Sweden
2025-09-06 - 2025-09-07
”Romeo och Julia” med Unga Klara, 6–7 september, Sergels torg.

Anne Sofie von Otter, Pekka Kuusisto, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra - So We Will Vanish - Göteborgs Konserthus (Gothenburg, Sweden)
2026-01-28 - 2026-01-29 | Gothenburg Concert House, Götaplatsen 8, Gothenburg, 412 56, Sweden
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 P. Atkinson, Mikael Karlsson
Program notes for So We Will Vanish:
So We Will Vanish is a song cycle about natural destruction, told by three trees that have either already been obliterated or are in the process of disappearing. The title is a quotation from director Werner Herzog:
“Life on our planet has been a constant series of cataclysmic events, and we are more suitable for extinction than a trilobite or a reptile. So we will vanish. There’s no doubt in my heart.”
Herzog predicts that we, like the trees and countless species before us, are well-suited for extinction. The three trees in this cycle recount the stories of their own disappearance in order to underline how natural, almost inevitable it is to cease to exist.
In Doggerland, a tree on the seabed off the English coast remembers the great landmass that once stretched across what is now ocean. This region, called Doggerland, was once inhabited by mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and lions, until rising waters swept over the land and drowned an entire ecosystem. Today the forest lies buried beneath the sea.
Firehawks refers to a species of hawk found in Australia. To flush out prey, these birds lift burning twigs from bushfires in their beaks, fly over shrubs or trees, drop the embers, and ignite new fires. The animals and insects sheltering inside are forced out, and the hawk can dive and capture them with ease. In this song, the tree sees the hawks approaching with fire in their beaks and realizes what is about to happen.
The Saint Helena Olive was a species of olive tree that disappeared from the wild around 1994 on the island of Saint Helena, its only natural habitat, leaving a single cutting alive in cultivation. In 2003, even that last tree died after a fungal infection. Despite numerous attempts to save her, extinction could not be prevented. The song ends with a mantra on her name.
The songs are dedicated to Anne Sofie von Otter and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Anne Sofie von Otter, Pekka Kuusisto, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra - So We Will Vanish - Musiikkitalo Concert Hall (Hensinki, Finland)
2026-02-04 - 2026-02-05 | Musiikkitalo Concert Hall, Mannerheimintie 13 A, Helsinki, 00100, Finland
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 P. Atkinson, Mikael Karlsson
Program notes for So We Will Vanish:
So We Will Vanish is a song cycle about natural destruction, told by three trees that have either already been obliterated or are in the process of disappearing. The title is a quotation from director Werner Herzog:
“Life on our planet has been a constant series of cataclysmic events, and we are more suitable for extinction than a trilobite or a reptile. So we will vanish. There’s no doubt in my heart.”
Herzog predicts that we, like the trees and countless species before us, are well-suited for extinction. The three trees in this cycle recount the stories of their own disappearance in order to underline how natural, almost inevitable it is to cease to exist.
In Doggerland, a tree on the seabed off the English coast remembers the great landmass that once stretched across what is now ocean. This region, called Doggerland, was once inhabited by mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and lions, until rising waters swept over the land and drowned an entire ecosystem. Today the forest lies buried beneath the sea.
Firehawks refers to a species of hawk found in Australia. To flush out prey, these birds lift burning twigs from bushfires in their beaks, fly over shrubs or trees, drop the embers, and ignite new fires. The animals and insects sheltering inside are forced out, and the hawk can dive and capture them with ease. In this song, the tree sees the hawks approaching with fire in their beaks and realizes what is about to happen.
The Saint Helena Olive was a species of olive tree that disappeared from the wild around 1994 on the island of Saint Helena, its only natural habitat, leaving a single cutting alive in cultivation. In 2003, even that last tree died after a fungal infection. Despite numerous attempts to save her, extinction could not be prevented. The song ends with a mantra on her name.
The songs are dedicated to Anne Sofie von Otter and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.

Sophie Laplane, James Bonas - Mary, Queen of Scots - Scottish Ballet - Sadler's Wells (London, UK)
2026-03-05 - 2026-03-08 | Sadler’s Wells, Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN, United Kingdom
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

Morgann Runacre-Temple, Jessica Wright - "Arena" - Paris Opera Garnier (Paris, France)
2026-03-11 - 2026-03-28 | Paris Opera – Palais Garnier, Pl. de l'Opéra, Paris, Paris, 75009, France
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 score by Mikael Karlsson, composer of Play.
With the Paris Opera Étoiles, Premières Danseuses, Premiers Danseurs and Corps de Ballet
Recorded music. 17 performances.
Also on the program:
Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau is also sensitive to the arts’ interdisciplinary dimension, often using a language that combines movement and image.
His new work, Étude, explores the relationship between darkness and light, the light that allows us to imagine and create, despite doubts and shadows.

Anne Sofie von Otter, Ariane Matiakh, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra - So We Will Vanish - De Geerhallen (Norrköping, Sweden)
2026-04-11 | De Geerhallen, Norrköping
Anne Sofie von Otter and Ariane Matiakh perform the song cycle So We Will Vanish with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra on April 11 2026.
SO WE WILL VANISH
1. Doggerland
2. Firehawks
3. Saint Helena Olive
Music: Mikael Karlsson
Text: Royce Vavrek
Orchestration: Michael P. Atkinson, Mikael Karlsson
Program notes for So We Will Vanish:
So We Will Vanish is a song cycle about natural destruction, told by three trees that have either already been obliterated or are in the process of disappearing. The title is a quotation from director Werner Herzog:
“Life on our planet has been a constant series of cataclysmic events, and we are more suitable for extinction than a trilobite or a reptile. So we will vanish. There’s no doubt in my heart.”
Herzog predicts that we, like the trees and countless species before us, are well-suited for extinction. The three trees in this cycle recount the stories of their own disappearance in order to underline how natural, almost inevitable it is to cease to exist.
In Doggerland, a tree on the seabed off the English coast remembers the great landmass that once stretched across what is now ocean. This region, called Doggerland, was once inhabited by mammoths, saber-toothed cats, and lions, until rising waters swept over the land and drowned an entire ecosystem. Today the forest lies buried beneath the sea.
Firehawks refers to a species of hawk found in Australia. To flush out prey, these birds lift burning twigs from bushfires in their beaks, fly over shrubs or trees, drop the embers, and ignite new fires. The animals and insects sheltering inside are forced out, and the hawk can dive and capture them with ease. In this song, the tree sees the hawks approaching with fire in their beaks and realizes what is about to happen.
The Saint Helena Olive was a species of olive tree that disappeared from the wild around 1994 on the island of Saint Helena, its only natural habitat, leaving a single cutting alive in cultivation. In 2003, even that last tree died after a fungal infection. Despite numerous attempts to save her, extinction could not be prevented. The song ends with a mantra on her name.
The songs are dedicated to Anne Sofie von Otter and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
“Mikael Karlsson skrev sina tre orkestersånger på uppmaning av Anne Sofie von Otter. Hon är en av våra internationellt mest framgångsrika mezzosopraner, har hela världen som arbetsfält, och har en repertoar som sträcker sig från tidig barock till modernism, jazz och visor. Mikael Karlsson är också en framgångsrik tonsättare. År 2022 spelades hans opera Melancholia för fulla hus i Stockholm, och nu senast operan Fanny och Alexander med nio fullsatta föreställningar i operahuset La Monnaie i Bryssel. Texten till So We Will Vanish handlar om hur vår natur förstörs och hur växter och djurarter för evigt försvinner – precis som det en dag kan hända även med mänskligt liv.” From the orchestra’s website.

Alexander Ekman's "Midsummer Night's Dream" - Joffrey Ballet - Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley, CA)
2026-04-17 - 2026-04-19 | Zellerbach Hall, 101 Zellerbach Hal, Berkeley, CA, 94720, United States
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 realm of unearthly delights. This “odd, wonderful, provocative and utterly original work” (Chicago Sun Times) begins during the traditional Scandinavian summer solstice festival—the dancers celebrating a day of revelry and romance under the maypole—but soon blossoms into a sensual, otherworldly fantasy. Featuring Swedish indie rock sensation Anna von Hausswolff and performed to a score by composer Mikael Karlsson, Midsummer is a bold fusion of classical and contemporary ballet that artfully blurs the line between the real and the imagined, and makes us wonder, is it all a dream?”
Vocalist: Anna von Hausswolff

Sophie Laplane, James Bonas - Mary, Queen of Scots - Scottish Ballet - Spoleto Festival (Charleston, USA)
2026-05-22 - 2026-06-07 | Spoleto Festival (Charleston SC), 14 George St, Charleston, SC, 29401, United States
Mary, Queen of Scots comes to the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Performance dates during the festival will be announced in January 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

Sophie Laplane, James Bonas - Mary, Queen of Scots - Scottish Ballet - Lincoln Center (New York City, USA)
2026-06-04 - 2026-06-06 | Lincoln Center, David H Koch Theater, 20 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY, 10023, United States
Mary, Queen of Scots comes to Lincoln Center, David H Koch Theater June 4-6 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

Alexander Ekman's "Midsummer Night's Dream" - Dortmund Ballet - LG Arts Center (Seoul, South Korea)
2026-06-12 - 2026-06-14 | LG Arts Center, 136 Magokjungang-ro, Seoul, Gangseo-gu, Korea, Democratic People's Republic of
Dortmund Ballet brings Alexander Ekman’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream” to the LG Arts Center, Seoul, South Korea.
More info about Midsummer Night’s Dream on my dedicated webpage for the piece.
