Eva Hess Thaysen
Eva Hess Thaysen is professor of voice and head of the voice department as well as head of artistic research at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. She has taught at the Bel Canto Institute's extensive summer program in Florence, Italy since 2006 and has given masterclasses at the conservatories in Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Souchou, Milan, Florence, and Vilnius. Eva also teaches extensively via distance learning and in this connection she has taught to Manhattan School of Music and Eastman School of Music as well as the conservatories in Amsterdam, Milan, Vilnius and Oulo.
BACKGROUND
Eva Hess Thaysen was born and raised in Copenhagen. After high school, she went to the U.S. to study, and in 1980 she graduated with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature from Hamilton College, New York. She returned to Copenhagen and studied voice at the Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM) from which she holds a diploma in vocal performance and made her debut from the soloist class in 1989. In 2008 she completed a Master's degree in Elite Voice Pedagogy also from RDAM.
ARTISTIC PRACTICE
Eva Hess Thaysen made her debut as an opera singer in 1988 and has sung over 40 roles on stage - primarily over a long period at The Danish National Opera, but also with numerous seasons at Det Ny Teater, Aarhus Sommeropera, Den Fynske Opera, Den Anden Opera, The Underground and The Music Drama Theatre. The roles have centered around the lyrical coloratura soprano repertoire, such as Norina, Nanetta and Musetta, with detours to such different Mozart parts as the Queen of the Night and Donna Anna. The operetta genre has also had a prominent place, with Adèle, Cunegonde and Hanna Glawari as signature roles.
Eva Hess Thaysen has also been very active on the experimental music and theater scene at home and abroad. For a number of years, she had a fruitful collaboration with Kirsten Dehlholm and the performance theater Hotel Pro Forma, just as she has premiered a large number of works by both Danish and foreign composers. She has also participated in musical cross-over contexts, and her vocals can be heard on several jazz recordings - for example Palle Mikkelborg's Aura with Miles Davis.
Eva Hess Thaysen has been a soloist with all Danish symphony orchestras and has also performed with the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. She has performed at festivals all over Europe and has recorded several CDs.
The Lied genre has always had a prominent place in Eva Hess Thaysen's heart. She has given numerous concerts in music associations across the country, and since 2000 she has been chairperson of The Danish Song Society, which runs a season of eight annual Lied concerts in Copenhagen and organizes seminars and master classes for singers and pianists with prominent international artists such as a.o. Bo Skovhus, Anne Sophie von Otter, Helmut Deutsch, and Malcolm Martineau.
In 2015 Eva Hess Thaysen initiated The Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition in collaboration with RDAM and the Soloist Association of 1921. The competition takes place every other year, next time in October 2025.
Bel Canto Institute Summer Program i Florence, Italy – member of the faculty since 2006
Music Confucius Institute – member of the board 2012-2020
Masterclasses in Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Souchou, Milano, Firenze og Vilnius
Distance Learning with Manhattan School of Music and Eastman School of Music as well as the conservatories in Amsterdam, Milano, Oulo and Vilnius
Teaches at MGK and recruits via masterclasses and other activities abroad.
Teaches online to Tianjin Middle School and Shanghai Middle School.
On the external jury at Det Jyske Musikkonservatorium, Syddansk Musikkonservatorium (Odense og Esbjerg) and MGK Copenhagen.
Member of the jury at The Copenhagen Lied Duo Competition and in competitions in connection with The Bel Canto Institute.
External evaluator at Musikhøjskolen Olso.
Eksternal evaluator and advisor at ”Opera out of Opera” (2018-2020) - an EU financed collaboration between Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia in Rome, Mozarteum Salzburg, Art-On in Athen and Chamber Opera Navarra in Pamplona. Project under Creative Europe and AEC.
Eksternal evaluator at the Austrian Science Fund 2020.
Artistically responsible for the Music Confucius Institute China Day Concerts 2017-2020.
- Det Danske Sangselskab – medlem af bestyrelsen siden 1996 - fra 2000 som bestyrelsesleder
- Solistforeningen af 1921 – suppleant i bestyrelsen fra 2000 og fra 2023 bestyrelsesmedlem
- Kgl. Kammersangerinde Else Brems’ Rejsefond – medlem af bestyrelsen siden 2014
- Sangfonden af 2013 – medlem af bestyrelsen siden 2011
- Dansk Skuespillerforbund – medlem af operaudvalget siden 2004
- Egnsteatret Undergrunden – medlem af bestyrelsen fra 2013 – fra 2015 til 2020 som bestyrelsesleder
- Statens Kunstfond – medlem af repræsentantskabet 2013-2016 og 2017-2020
- Music Confucius Institute – medlem af bestyrelsen 2012-2020
- Copenhagen Operafestival – medlem af det kunstnerisk rådgivende udvalg 2009-2014
- Musikteatret Undergrunden – medlem af bestyrelsen fra 2009 og fra 2011-2013 som bestyrelsesleder
Books:
Danish Diction in Art Song, Eva Hess Thaysen, Ruben Schachtenhaufen og Christen Stubbe Teglbjærg, Edition-S 2023, ISBN 978-87-87131-17-9
Articles:
- Udvikling af en standard til fonetisk notation af klassisk dansk sangrepertoire, Eva Hess Thaysen og Ruben Schachtenhaufen i Tidsskriftet SANG 1-2/2021, ISSN 2597-0518
- Ord og musik – Liedkunst i tiden, Eva Hess Thaysen i ”Klassisk til tiden” 2021, ISBN 978-87-972607-1-5
- Stemmer, Eva Hess Thaysen i ”Voices - at se musikken” af Britt Lindemann 2018, ISBN 978-87-93678-68-2
- Viden gennem kunst - praksis, refleksion og udviklingsvirksomhed, Eva Hess Thaysen og Anne Gry Haugland, i ”Musik og uddannelse” DKDM’s 150-års jubilæumsbog, 2017, ISBN 978-87-87131-01-8
CD’s:
- C.F. Weyse
Sovedrikken
Guido Paëvatalu, Eva Hess Thaysen, Elsebeth Dreisig, Gert Henning-Jensen, Michael Kristensen, Johan Reuter, Tina Kiberg, Stig Fogh Andersen, Sten Byriel, Sokkelund Choir, Danish Radio Sinfonietta, Giordano Bellincampi
Dacapo 8.224149-50
- Carl Nielsen
3. Symfoni
Sænk kun dit hoved du blomst
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Douglas Bostock
Classico (CLASSCD 297)
- Carl Nielsen
The lesser known Nielsen, vol.5
Rondo (RCD 8329)
- Dan Marmorstein
The Party is in your Head
Classico (CLASSCD 149)
- Carl Nielsen
3.symfoni
Odense Symphony Orchestra, Edvard Serov
Kontrapunkt 32203
- Palle Mikkelborg
Miles Davis Aura
Sony/Columbia CK 63982
- Bo Stief
Hidden Frontiers
Replay Records RELP 3505
TV production
Igor Stravinsky
The Nightingale
Ib Hansen, Djina Mai-Mai, Randi Stene, Stig Fogh Andersen, Eva Hess Thaysen og Lars Waage
Danish Radio Choir, Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Michael Schønwandt
DR-TV Preben Montell
