Mikkel Skorpen tenor

        The Norwegian tenor Mikkel Skorpen was born in 1990. He studied classical singing at the ArtEZ Hogeschool voor de kunsten in Zwolle (Netherlands) and obtained a master’s degree at the Opera Academy in Oslo.

       In the season 2015-2016 Skorpen integrated the Opera Studio of Opéra National de Lyon, where he sang the roles of Harlekin and A Soldier in Viktor Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantis and Dr. S in Michael Nyman’s The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat. Other early assignments included Tamino in Die Zauberflöte (International Belcanto Academy), the title role in Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito (Centre for Opera Studies of Italy), as well as Froh in Das Rheingold and Le Doyen de la Faculté in Massenet’s Cendrillon, by the Oslo Summer Opera.

        In March 2018 Mikkel Skorpen made his debut at the Norwegian National Opera as Arturo in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lamermoor, where he learned the role and stepped in to sing on the side stage on the same day. Later, on the same spring, he sang Basilio in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (with aria) at the same house.

       As a concert singer, he has performed many masses and oratorios. He is especially sought-after for the tenor part in Orff’s Carmina Burana. His concerts activities are centered in Norway, but he has also appeared in the Netherlands, France, Poland, Mexico and Mozambique.

       He has worked with conductors such as Jonathan Berman, Gregor Bühl, James Duddle, Clemens Flick, Philippe Forget, Terje Boye Hansen, Lothar Koenigs, Lanfranco Marcelletti, Vincent Renaud, Jac Van Steen, Dalia Stasevska, Peter Szilvay, Ernst van Tiel and Mark Wigglesworth.

       In the season 2018-2019 he integrated the Young Singers Program at the Norwegian National Opera, where he sang roles such as Chaplitsky in Tchaikovsky’s Pikovaya Dama, Un Venditore di Canzonette/Due Amanti in Puccini’s Il Tabarro, Arthur Jones in Britten’s Billy Budd, David Syngemester in Fliflet Bræin’s Anne Pedersdotter and Aeneas in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

        In the 20/21 season Mikkel sung the roles of Beppe and Arlecchino in a version of I Pagliacci sung in Norwegian, with the Ringsakeroperaen, in Norway, as well as Funiculi in the children’s opera Funiculi & Funicula, organized by the Norwegian National Opera. In December 2021 Mikkel sang the role of Mercure in Offenbach’s Orphée aux Enfers, at the Norwegian National Opera, in norwegian.

      Upcoming engagements include: Sylvester (originally Sylvaine, but rewritten for tenor) in Léhar’s Die Lustige Witwe, at the Bergen Nasjonale Opera; a revival of Funiculi & Funicula; Die Hexe in Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel (in Norwegian), by the Flagstad Festival; and he will return to the Bergen Nasjonale Opera to sing the role of King Kaspar in Menotti's Ahmal and the Night Visitors.