The board of Stiftelsen Bergen National Opera has decided to extend the term of opera director Eivind Gullberg Jensen by five years. Gullberg Jensen’s term of office originally expired in December 2025, but following the board’s decision, it is clear that he will continue in his position until 31 December 2030. 

- In the world of opera, time goes fast and the planning horizon is long. Therefore, it was essential to secure an extension of the opera director’s contract already now. BNO is still in a development phase as a national institution. This means that we need a person at the helm who is both a highly respected artist and a prominent public profile. We have that with Eivind Gullberg Jensen, and the board of BNO is very happy that he has accepted a new term, says chairman Tom Remlov. 

Top quality opera 

Artistic innovation and skilled creative teams and soloists have become hallmarks of Gullberg Jensen’s strategic vision. In his four years as Director, the Bergen public has been enthralled by newly written versions of The Merry Widow by Lehár and Die Fledermaus by Strauss d.y., both of which drew full houses. Also, two national treasures from the Czech Republic have been staged in new productions, with the moving stories of Rusalka by Dvořák and Katja Kabanova by Janáček. A world-renowned production of Mozart’s most popular opera, The Magic Flute, also sold out. 

The opera director is looking forward to five further years, and to continue to deliver opera at a high level in Bergen: 

- I am deeply grateful for the trust the board of Bergen National Opera has shown by extending my term as opera director. It is a great honour to be able to continue the work of developing and strengthening opera as an art form in my own hometown. I look forward to building on the projects I have already started, and to create new artistic experiences for our dedicated and ever-growing audience. Together with the wonderful team at Bergen National Opera, I am inspired to lift the art of opera to new heights in the coming years. 

The season of 2025 offers Jon Fosse, academy and national collaboration 

The opera director is keen to get both national collaborations and productions in the Norwegian-language on the programme, and as early as March 2025 something as rare as a completely new opera with text by Jon Fosse will be staged in Bergen. 

At Bergen International Festival in May, the newly written opera Terminus will be staged — the first of three collaborative projects between the Norwegian Opera & Ballet in Oslo, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera and the Bergen National Opera. 

Eivind Gullberg Jensen’s brainchild, and the first thing he wanted to realise as opera director of BNO, is the summer academy Opera by the fjord. The academy targets young singers at the start of their careers, as well as young orchestra musicians, conductors and repetiteurs who want to work with opera. At Oseana, just outside Bergen, strong teaching forces from the world of opera come together for one week every summer, to guide the opera talents of the future.