Biography

“A Danish tenor of beautiful tone and elegantly polished phrasing” (Seattle Times), David Danholt won a First Prize at the 2014 Seattle Opera International Wagner Competition and a 2009 Reumert Talent Award. Born in Funen, he trained at the Royal Academy of the Royal Theatre, Copenhagen, and then in the soloist class of the Royal Academy of Music, Copenhagen. He has established a strong relationship with Den Jyske Opera, where he has sung Nemorino/L’elisir d’amore, the title role in Faust, Don Ottavio/Don Giovanni, Tamino/Die Zauberflöte, the title role in Idomeneo, Alfredo/La Traviata, The Steersman/Der fliegende Holländer and Young Seaman & Shepherd/Tristan und Isolde.

His wider engagements have included Lysander/A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Eurimaco/Il ritorno d’Ulisse at the Royal Danish Opera, Robert Lanyon/Dr Jekylls advokat with Den Fynske Opera, Jenik/The Bartered Bride at the Staatstheater Mainz, Arindal/Die Feen and Claudio/Das Liebesverbot for Oper Leipzig and SS – Officer/The Passenger at the Bregenz Festival, a production now available on Neos Blu Ray and DVD. He made his UK debut as Idomeneo with Grange Park Opera and sang Arindal/Die Feen for Chelsea Opera Group.

Concert engagements have included performances with orchestras including the Ålborg Symphony Orchestra, the Århus Symphony Orchestra, the Esbjerg Ensemble, the Leipzig Chamber Orchestra, the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Orquestra Metropolitana, Lisbon, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra and the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra.

Past engagements included Tamino/Die Zauberflöte for Valdemars Castle Summer Opera, Eisenstein/Die Fledermaus and Carl Nielsen/Springtime in Funen with the Odense Symphony Orchestra, Accurato/Andre Bygninger for Den Fynske Opera, Baron Lummer/Intermezzo at The Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Erik/Der fliegende Holländer for the Florentine Opera Company and Seattle Opera, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 and Messiah with the Danish Radio Sinfonietta, Beethoven Symphony No. 9 with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Dvorak Stabat Mater with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Candide and Elijah with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Rued Langgard’s Antichrist at Ribe Cathedral and Mozart Requiem with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. He returned to the UK to sing Carl Nielsen/Hymnus Amoris with the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra for his debut at the 2015 BBC Proms. Further engagements included The Prince/Rusalka at Arizona Opera and Walter/The Passenger at Michigan Opera Theatre, Florida Grand Opera and New Israeli Opera/Tel Aviv. The season 2017/18 he joined the soloist ensemble at The Royal Opera/Copenhagen, where he sang Tamino/Die Zauberflöte and Roderigo/Otello.

Recently He has sung Dr. Cajus in Verdi´’s Falstaff at Den Ny Opera/Esbjerg, the King in the norwegian composer Ole Olsen’s opera “Klippeøyerne” on tour in Norway and Messiah with Jönk¨¨oping Sinfonietta/Sweden.