Niklas Willén (born March 30, 1961) is a Swedish conductor. He was born in Stockholm and studied conducting and composition there at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

. His conducting teachers were Professors

Jorma Panula Jorma Juhani Panula (born 10 August 1930) is a Finnish conductor, composer, and teacher of conducting. He has mentored many Finnish conductors, such as Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mikko Franck, Sakari Oramo, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Osmo Vänskä and Klaus ...

and Kjell Ingebretsen, while his composition tutors were Ingvar Karkoff and Daniel Börtz. Niklas Willén has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. His ...

, Chief Conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra in Sweden and the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. He has also been Generalmusikdirektor (GMD) of the Volkstheater Rostock and the Norddeutsche Philharmonie Rostock. He is currently Chief Conductor of the

WDR Rundfunkorchester Köln The is a German broadcast orchestra of the ' (WDR, West German Broadcasting) in Cologne. The orchestra gives its concerts in such venues as the Kölner Philharmonie and in the Funkhaus Wallrafplatz. History Groups from which the orchestra was f ...

in Cologne. Willén works with major orchestras and opera houses in

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...

, the rest of Europe and the USA. He has recorded for a number of labels including

Naxos Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...

, BIS and Hyperion. He has 4 children, Linnea, Julius, Hugo and Ossian.

External links

Niklas Willén
bio on the

site
Niklas Willén
bio on the Hyperion site
Niklas Willén - conductor
{{DEFAULTSORT:Willen, Niklas 1961 births Living people Swedish conductors (music) Male conductors (music) Royal College of Music, Stockholm alumni 21st-century conductors (music) 21st-century Swedish male musicians