Gunnar Brunvoll (6 June 1924 – 27 April 1999) was a Norwegian impresario and opera administrator. He was co-founder of the Norwegian Opera Company, and was manager at

Norwegian National Opera and Ballet The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet ( no, Den Norske Opera & Ballett, links=no) is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisati ...

for more than twenty years.

Personal life

Brunvoll was born in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

as a son of Jonas Brunvoll and Kirsten Sørsdal, and was a brother of singer Jonas Brunvoll. He was married to Solveig Pettersen. During the

Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until the ...

he was involved in the civil resistance movement, including editing of the illegal newspaper ''Norge''. Both his parents and his brother Jonas ended up in

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

s in Germany, while Gunnar escaped to Sweden and further to Great Britain and Canada, where he was trained as a pilot at the training camp

Little Norway Little Norway ( no, Lille Norge), officially (FTL, "Air Force Training Camp"), was a Norwegian Army Air Service/Royal Norwegian Air Force training camp in southern Ontario during the Second World War. Origins When Nazi Germany attacked Norway o ...

Career

Brunvoll did not continue his military career after World War II. In 1945 he established his own impresario and concert agency. The agency introduced strongmen, illusionists and performing artists. Among the artists were opera singers

Aase Nordmo Løvberg Aase Nordmo Løvberg (10 June 192325 January 2013) was a Norwegian opera soprano. ''Dagbladet'' called her "one of Norway's greatest opera singers." For many years she sang with Jussi Björling at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, and she also sang ...

and

Ragnar Ulfung Ragnar Sigurd Ulfung (born 28 February 1927) is a Norwegian operatic tenor. Described in the ''Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' as "a brilliant actor with an incisive voice", he was particularly known for his portrayals of Herod (''Salome ...

, and singer-songwriter

Alf Prøysen Alf Prøysen () (23 July 1914 – 23 November 1970) was a Norwegian author, poet, playwright, songwriter and musician. Prøysen was one of the most important Norwegian cultural personalities in the second half of the 20th century. He wor ...

. Brunvoll co-founded the Norwegian Opera Company in 1949, along with his brother Jonas and István Pajor, and directed this company from 1949 to 1958. He served as manager at

Den Norske Opera The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet ( no, Den Norske Opera & Ballett, links=no) is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisati ...

from 1958 to 1979. He was a board member of the International Association of Opera Directors from 1962 to 1965, and chairman of the board of the

Norwegian National Academy of Opera The Norwegian National Academy of Opera ( no, Statens operahøgskole) was established in 1964 as a two-year education in opera. The school was given collegiate status in 1982. In 1996 the National Academy of Opera became part of Oslo National Aca ...

from 1988 to 1992. He was vice chairman of

Norsk Film Norsk Film was a Norwegian film production company established in 1932 and disestablished in 2001. It was located in Bærum, with studio facilities at Jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ce ...

from 1965 to 1971. He was decorated Commander of the

Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

, Knight, First Class of the Order of St. Olav, and Knight of the

Order of Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brunvoll, Gunnar 1924 births 1999 deaths Musicians from Bærum Norwegian resistance members Norwegian World War II pilots Royal Norwegian Air Force personnel of World War II 20th-century Norwegian businesspeople Impresarios Opera managers Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star