Kersti Wilhelmsson

Meet the Musicians

I’m originally from Västerås. I studied in Trondheim and Cardiff, and then joined the Norrlands Opera in 2005.

The first opera I saw was *Eugene Onegin* at the Royal Opera in Stockholm when I was seven years old. It was an amazing experience that made a deep impression on me. I especially remember a glass being smashed on stage and shattering into a thousand pieces, and of course the scene where Lensky is shot. It was amazing that afterward we got to go backstage to Tatyana’s and Olga’s dressing rooms (Jadwiga Koba and Birgitta Svendén). But—they were wearing wigs, after all!

My first opera at the Norrlands Opera was *Turandot*. In my opinion, the best opera production at the Norrlands Opera during my time there has been *Wozzeck*. If I had my choice, I would love to perform *Der Rosenkavalier* in the future.

When I was younger , Isaac Stern was one of my favorite violinists. I remember my dad and I going to hear him play at the Stockholm Concert Hall. These days, I’m more interested in following the young and fantastic Christian Li from Australia, for example; otherwise, I always enjoy listening to Maxim Vengerov, Rachel Podger, Monica Huggett, and Ray Chen.

I enjoy the variety of performing both opera and concerts at the Norrlands Opera, and if you’re lucky, you might even get to hear me and my three outstanding colleagues perform chamber music all over Västerbotten with the Avatarkvartetten, a group I particularly enjoy working with.