Joa Helgesson

Joa Helgesson (born 19 February 1981 in Blackeberg, Stockholm, Sweden) is a Swedish baritone opera singer and performance artist currently living in Berlin.

Joa Rasmus Helgesson
Born	19 February 1981 Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality	Swedish
Other names	Opera Beast, Commander Octopus
Education	University College of Opera Opera Mälardalens Högskola Classical Vocal Training Shanghai Theatre Academy Acting Rytmus Stockholm Bass and Song Adolf Fredrik's Music School Choir
Occupations	Opera singer Performance artist
Years active	2000–present
Spouse	Anna Zakrisson
Children	1
Website	https://joahelgesson.net/

Early life

Growing up in Blackeberg, Stockholm, Helgesson was involved in music and singing from an early age. He formed a death-metal band at the age of twelve while attending Adolf Fredrik's Music School (Swedish: Adolf Fredriks Musikklasser), a school in Stockholm known for its song and choral curriculum. He continued performing bass and vocals in various bands while studying bass and song at Rytmus High School. In 2000, Helgesson was involved in a collaborative music project between young musicians from Sweden, China and the USA, coordinated by Ross School and tutored by several professional musicians including producer and composer, Quincy Jones, which led him to Shanghai Theatre Academy where he studied acting. Upon returning to Sweden, Helgesson attended the chamber music program at Mälardalens Högskola, where he began his training in classical singing, which he then completed at the University College of Opera in Stockholm.

Opera

Helgesson's talent was recognised early, and he was accepted at the National Opera Studio in London. From there he moved to the Opera Studio of Opernhaus Zürich, where he was able to work with conductors Bernard Haitink, Zubin Mehta, Nello Santi, and Ingo Metzmacher. During this time Helgesson was the cover for Thomas Hampson in Verdi's I masnadieri.

Throughout his career, Helgesson has demonstrated his range in numerous styles, from classical and baroque opera to world premieres and original compositions. He has performed around 50 parts including Barbiere, Don Giovanni, Eugene Onegin, Billy Budd, Escamillo in Carmen, and Enrico. He has performed in China at the Beijing Modern Music Festival, and throughout Europe at venues such as Berliner Philharmonie, Markgräfliches Opernhaus im Rahmen der Bayreuther Festspiele, Göteborgsoperan,^[1] Norrlandsoperan,^[2] Berwaldhallen, Stockholm Concert Hall, Tonhalle Zürich, Opern Halle,^[3][4][5] Gare du Nord Basel, Reykjavik Arts Festival and Oslo Ultima Festival. From 2012-2015, Helgesson was house baritone for Landestheater Schleswig-Holstein.^[6][7]

Helgesson was a member of the Gothenburg Opera in Sweden from 2017 to 2019, appearing as The Phantom of the Opera,^[8] and as Dom Claude Frollo in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]}

In early 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, Helgesson performed opera from the balcony of Norrbottenteatern and was streamed on national television and radio in Sweden.^[16][17]

Notable performances

• Tristan & Isolde (Kurwenal) at Folkoperan, Stockholm, Sweden (2020) ^[18]
• Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni), Norrlandsoperan (2020) ^[19][20]
• Phantom of the Opera (Phantom), Göteborgsoperan (2017–2018) ^{[21][22][23][24][25]}
• Kärleksmaskinen (Ion) at Piteå Chamber Opera and NEO (2020) ^[26][27]
• Eugene Onegin (Onegin) at Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landestheater, Germany (2014)
• The Barber of Seville (Figaro) at Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landestheater, Germany (2012–2013)
• Madama Butterfly (Sharpless) at Schleswig-Holsteinisches Landestheater, Germany (2013–2014)
• Billy Budd (Billy Budd) Göteborgsoperan (2013)

Performance Art

Helgesson is currently based in Berlin, performing under the name Opera Beast,^[28] creating performance art pieces that push the boundaries of classical singing, combining opera with fakir performances in collaboration with the Body Suspension community.^[21]

Helgesson also performs with his wife, Dr. Anna Zakrisson, combining opera and science to create unique performances. They performed together at the Halland Opera & Vocal Festival.^[29] Helgesson and Zakrisson were interviewed by Ronja von Rönne for the ARTE program Street Philosophy in 2019^[30] about their alternative lifestyle. As part of a performance art and satire project, Helgesson developed the character Commander Octopus who is in a played feud with Doctor Anna from Doctor Anna's Imaginarium^[31] on social media.

Political engagement

Helgesson is an active union member and is a board member of the Swedish Union for Theater.

References

1. "About us | The Göteborg Opera". en.opera.se.
2. "Det finns ett växande medvetande i den här artificiella intelligensen". Piteå Kammaropera | Norrbottensmusiken.
3. "Bühnen Halle – Theater, Oper und Orchester Halle GmbH". buehnen-halle.de.
4. Agthe, Kai (March 21, 2016). ""Die drei Musketiere" in Oper Halle: Einer für alle". Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.
5. Müller, S. (April 30, 2016). "DIE DREI MUSKETIERE in Halle". Musical1.
6. Haufschild, Catrin (13 May 2022). "Flensburger Theaterfreunde: Höhepunkt der Ballsaison | shz.de". shz.
7. [1]^{[dead link]}
8. "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
9. "Video". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-11-17.
10. Sundström, Ulla (September 20, 2018). "Quasimodo – en krävande drömroll". gp.se.
11. "HANNA JOHANSSON: Den glättiga Disneystämningen är bibehållen". www.expressen.se. 24 September 2018.
12. "Ett högkalibrigt äventyr – Alba". www.alba.nu. 27 September 2018.
13. "Helena Lindblad: "Det är allas Vår Fru som brinner just nu"". DN.SE. April 15, 2019.
14. Juliusson, Carl Magnus (September 23, 2018). "En rörande och tänkvärd Ringare". gp.se.
15. "Nu är rollerna klara till Disneys musikal Ringaren i Notre Dame". Mynewsdesk. 28 February 2018.
16. Silverdal, Joakim (19 March 2020). "Opera ställde in – sjunger från balkongen istället". Sveriges Radio – via sverigesradio.se.
17. Radio, Sveriges (19 March 2020). "Nu kan man lyssna och se på mycket kultur hemifrån - Radio Sweden på lätt svenska". Sveriges Radio.
18. "Folkoperan". Mynewsdesk. 27 February 2020.
19. "En Don Juan med stor charm". www.vk.se. March 13, 2020.
20. "Recension: Don Giovanni – Norrlandsoperan". SVT Nyheter. March 16, 2020.
21. Jurjaks, Arvid (August 18, 2018). "Fakiren på operan". gp.se.
22. BWW News Desk. "VIDEO: Watch Highlights From Sweden's Non-Replica THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA". BroadwayWorld.com.
23. "Fantomen på operan gör succé i Göteborg". www.expressen.se. 11 November 2017.
24. "Scenrecension: Äntligen en fantom som vågar ta ut svängarna". Dagens Nyheter. September 25, 2017.
25. Nyström, Rebecca (September 16, 2017). "Fantomen byter skepnad – tjuvkika på nya versionen". SVT Nyheter – via www.svt.se.
26. Löfvendahl, Bo (October 13, 2019). "Förförisk robot tar ton i operathriller". Svenska Dagbladet – via www.svd.se.
27. "Opera undersöker relationen mellan teknik och människa". SVT Nyheter. October 16, 2019.
28. "Opera Beast Entry".
29. "The Man Hanged – Halland Opera & Vocal Festival".
30. "Streetphilosophy - Befreie dich von der Schuld! - Komplette Sendung". ARTE.
31. "Doctor Anna's Imaginarium – Science & Kink".

External links

• Official website