Opera Café presents curated, high-quality concerts in informal settings, where the audience gets close to outstanding opera singers.

We challenge both audiences and performers with a diverse program, highlighting queer, unique, and marginalized voices. In this way, we create a low-threshold meeting place that fosters dialogue, knowledge, and interest in opera, reaching a broad audience.

In collaboration with Queer Voices, we provide space and work for queer artists and stories. Queer performers and audience members have long been part of the opera community, and we aim to make room for stories that reflect their experiences. The audience gains insight into the music and the singer’s artistry through personal anecdotes and historical perspectives.

Opera Café has grown into a platform for artistic collaboration across genres, without hierarchy or the pursuit of status. We aim to reflect the diversity of society, and today our audience ranges from 18 to 90. Encounters across generations, cultures, and identities have become a natural part of our expression.

Ola Marius Ryan – Tenor (he/him)
Ola Marius Ryan is from Namsskogan in Trøndelag. He studied classical singing and vocal pedagogy at NTNU and completed his master’s degree in opera at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2007. Since then, he has performed with numerous opera companies in Norway, including the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera, and Bergen National Opera. With the latter, he participated in the contemporary opera Veslefrikk, which won the Audience Award at the Armel Opera Festival in Hungary.

In addition to opera and contemporary music, Ryan has extensive experience in church music and vocal ensembles. He was a member of “Tenorane og Steffen Horn” from 2011–2016 and an ensemble singer with Trondheim Vokalensemble in 2016–2017. Alongside his performing career, he currently serves as Head of Arts and Culture Studies at Nord University.

Mathilde Hofvind Borgen – Bass-baritone (she/her)
Mathilde holds a degree in musicology from the University of Oslo and is currently in her second year of the Bachelor in Performance at The Arctic University of Norway, Conservatory of Music in Tromsø. She made her debut here at Rosendal together with Skeive Stemmer in The Merry Wives of Windsor, performing the role of Mr. Page, and joined the production at the Grimeborn Festival in London in 2023.

Her repertoire spans from medieval music to contemporary works, and she has a particular passion for Vivaldi, Morley, and Rossini. Most recently, she was a finalist in the international singing competition Fondazione Renata Tebaldi – baroque section in San Marino. We are pleased to welcome her back to the Opera Café at Rosendal.

Alvilde Antonsen – Switch Soprano (she/her)
Alvilde is originally from Trondheim and made her debut as a student in 2022 with Skeive Stemmer in The Merry Wives of Windsor. She recently graduated with a master’s degree in performance from the University of Stavanger and has previously studied at the NTNU Department of Music and the Barratt Due Institute of Music. She has also studied under Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz and is currently pursuing a Post-Master diploma at UIS and the Conservatorio di Musica G. Martucci.

She has performed roles such as Marcellina in Le nozze di Figaro (Italy, 2024), Mrs. Nolan in The Medium, and participated in productions of Don Giovanni, Suor Angelica, and Cavalleria Rusticana, in collaboration between the Conservatorio G. Martucci and Teatro G. Verdi in Salerno. She also has experience collaborating with conductor Urša Lah, Bertil Palmar Johansen and TrondheimSolistene during the Olavsfest.

Dance Theatre
For this concert, we collaborate with Danseteatret: a senior, improvisational dance company affiliated with DansiT competence centre in Trondheim. The collaboration between artists of different generations reflects the diverse audience base we have cultivated.