Charlotte Petersson

Meet the Musicians

I’m from Ipswich, England. I studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1996 to 2001 with Caroline Emery as my teacher. I participated in the London Symphony Orchestra String Scheme and served as section leader for the Southbank Sinfonia from 2002 to 2003.The first time I performed at the Norrlandsoperan was in 2004, in Janáček’s opera *Jenůfa*. I am employed as an alternate section leader and play a double bass built by Pöllmann in 2015.

I began my musical journey as a violinist using the Suzuki method. I had the opportunity to start playing the double bass when I was 11, and it quickly became clear that the bass was my instrument.

It’s fantastic to have such variety in my job—performing opera, symphony concerts, and chamber music. I’ve tried to think of some of my favorite moments over the years, and it’s hard to choose because there are so many. I’ll never forget Sibelius’s *Kullervo* with Kristjan Järvi in 2006. The Estonian National Male Choir with Susanna Levonen and Fredrik Zetterström as soloists. What a piece, what a choir!

I think my favorite opera has to be *Blanche and Marie* by Mats Larsson Gothe, written for Umeå’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2014. It’s something special to premiere such a great, newly written opera. I really loved performing it.

Through chamber music, I’ve had the opportunity, among other things, to play in a double bass quartet with a storyteller, tour the county for preschoolers, and perform Burt Bacharach’s music with a string quintet and a singer… These occasions are special; you get to interact with the audience up close and draw a lot of energy from that connection.