Benedicte Christiansen

Benedicte Christiansen serves as Associate Professor at the Danish National Academy of Music (DKDM), where she has taught Italian for singers since 1997 and conducts writing courses for all BA students. Her academic career is deeply intertwined with professional practice in opera, journalism, and cultural policy.

Christiansen graduated as a singer from the Danish Academy of Music in 1995, with further education in Italian at the University of Copenhagen and classical philology at Aarhus University. She also trained as a journalist at the Danish School of Journalism. Her international experience includes living and working in Rome and Trieste, where she studied Italian repertoire with Prof. Marta Lantieri, former head of the Opern Studio at the Vienna State Opera.

Her research and professional interests span opera studies, cultural policy, music education, and the intersection of music with democratic society. Christiansen has conducted Italian courses for prestigious institutions including the Danish National Radio choir, the Royal Danish Opera, and the Jutland Opera. She has been instrumental in developing music education initiatives, particularly as the initiator and project manager of OrkesterMester, a nationwide program connecting music schools with school orchestras.

Her publications reveal consistent engagement with the economic and social value of opera and symphonic music, cultural diplomacy, and the relationship between arts participation and democratic citizenship. Christiansen approaches these topics through both academic analysis and practical experience, often highlighting international perspectives from Europe and Asia.

• Speaker at DKDM's music education conference on OrkesterMester (2019)
• Conference participation at Opera Europe, Antwerp (2019)
• Co-organizer of Nordic Music and Culture School Union's conferences (Oslo 2017, Finland 2016, Aalborg 2015)
• Nordic Children's Culture Conference in Nuuk (2014)
• 2018: Scholarship to the Danish Institute in Rome for research on 'La pronunzia ecclesiastica'

Christiansen has held leadership positions including head of the secretariat for music schools' trade association (2013-2018), head of administration for the Jutland Opera (2019), and head of Bornholm's Cultural School (from 2021). She has been elected to the Study Board and Conservatory Council at DKDM for multiple election periods and serves on the sector board for leaders in the Danish Association of Masters since 2019.