Sisters of Mysticism

Operabyrån was formed in 2010 by soprano Christina Larsson Malmberg and Baroque violinist Catalina Langborn. Along with colourful and creative artists tied to different projects, they present performing arts that push the limits of opera as a concept. In the performance Mystikens systrar – musikaliska nunnor och banbrytande feminister, they pay tribute to the forgotten music of nuns.

Convents were home to mystics, philosophers and authors but also many brilliant musicians and composers. Many nuns were ground-breaking in their defiance of the rules and norms of the rest of society. We will meet the female “monk” Pelagia, whose identity was first disclosed after her death, and Hildegard of Bingen, who was put in the convent, isolated from the rest of the world from the age of eight, still managing to become an author, composer and world-famous after her death.

In 2018, Operabyrån initiated a multi-year collaboration with Konserthuset Stockholm, with the theme of performances and dramatic concerts with music by women.