Michael Bojesen

Michael Bojesen is a Danish conductor, composer and choirmaster.

Michael Bojesen (born 7 August 1960) is a Danish conductor, composer, choirmaster and arranger. He is former director of Malmö Opera where he served from 2017 to 2022.[1] He won the Danish annual prize for choral composition in 1998.

Biography

Bojesen was born in Copenhagen. He graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 1984. From 1984 to 2001 he taught at the Sankt Annæ Gymnasium, a secondary school in Copenhagen specialising in singing, where he was choirmaster from 1991 to 2001. From 1989 to 2006 he was the conductor of the Camerata chamber choir, and from 2001 to 2010 chief conductor of the DR Girls' Choir,[2] after which he became honorary conductor.[3] He took over the direction of the Copenhagen Opera Festival in September 2012.[3] He has also been a docent at the Academy of Music (from 1994 to 2003).[2] He is known as a versatile conductor, working with the DR Big Band in addition to classical ensembles.[3]

Sexual misconduct allegations

Bojesen has been accused of allowing a sexualised environment by several former members of DR Girls' choir.[4][5] The issue was first reported to the general public in 2021 by Danish newspaper Politiken.[5]As a consequence of the lawyers' analysis of the complaints, Bojesen was stripped of his title as honorary conductor of DR Girls' choir. In 2022, accusations appeared concerning Bojesen's former employment as choirmaster at Sankt Annæ Gymnasium, including that during his time there, he was in a relationship with an underage student.[6]

Works

  • Pater Noster (1991)
  • Evigheden
  • These are the days

He has also arranged works for the Danish Concert Choir, the Danish National Chamber Orchestra and the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, among others.[7]

Awards

Bojesen won the Danish annual prize for choral composition in 1998.[2][7] In 1999 a recording of Messiah in which he participated won the Danish Grammy for the year's best Danish recording, and choirs under his direction have three times been honoured with first prizes: Camerata at Arezzo in 1992 and 2002, and the DR Girls' Choir as "Choir of the World 2002 Kathaumiwx".[7] In 2011 The Jazz Ballad Song Book, a recording by the DR Big Band in which he conducted the Danish National Chamber Orchestra was nominated for four Grammy Awards in jazz categories.[8]

References

  1. ^ "Folkelig dirigent bliver ny operachef" (in Danish). Politiken. 15 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Michael Bojesen, Den Store Danske Encyklopædi (in Danish)
  3. ^ a b c "Michael Bojesen er ny direktør for Copenhagen Opera Festival" Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine, Have Backstage, 21 June 2012 (in Danish)
  4. ^ "Genstart - DR's nyhedspodcast | Genstart: Et kor af stemmer | DR LYD". www.dr.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  5. ^ a b "Overblik: Her er konklusionerne fra advokatundersøgelsen af krænkelser i Pigekoret". DR (in Danish). 2021-11-10. Retrieved 2021-12-01.
  6. ^ "Forhold til tidligere elev under 18 år slår hul i operachefs forklaringer". Politiken. April 11, 2022.
  7. ^ a b c Michael Bojesen Archived 2016-04-22 at the Wayback Machine at Dansk Kapelmesterforening, retrieved 4 April 2014 (in Danish)
  8. ^ Endre Juel Lundgren, "DR med fire Grammy-nominasjoner" Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine, RadioAssistant.no, 2 December 2011 (in Norwegian)