Conny Thimander, Swedish tenor, received his Master of Arts degree from the University College of Opera in Stockholm. The season 2023/2024 features not one, but two productions of Cenerentola after another, where he will sing Don Ramiro. The first one will take place at the amphitheatre of Opera Hedeland in front of 3000 spectators and the second one will be put up at Folkoperan in Stockholm. Later in the Autumn he will again sing the role of Julian in The Snow Sister, but this time at Nordfjord Opera after which he will go to Malmö Opera for a production of Turandot from Savonlinna Opera Festival, where he will sing Pong. Eastern times features a St John Passion in Lissabon together with the renowned Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra under the baton of Risto Joost.
The season 2022/2023 featured a return to the Gothenburg opera as Vašek in Smetana’s The Bartered Bride, in a show, directed by Mellika Melouani Melani, that drew heavily on contemporary circus elements. Partly simultaneously he participated in the world premiere of Sven-David Sandströms last opera The Book of Life, where he performed the characters of Japeth and High Priest together with Norrköping Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Tobias Ringborg. Then followed the world premiere of the secular oratorio Wir sind Erde by Gregor A. Mayrhofer together with the Berlin State Opera Orchestra and Choir, led by the the composer himself in the Berlin Philharmonie, where Conny will sang the role of Der Dataist.
December and January was spent in his home city of Malmö, where he performed the role of Julian at Operaverkstan in the newly written The Snow Sister by Magnus Johansson. The Spring of 2023 featured an experimental version of Orfeo, signed composer Rasmus Zwicki and writer/director Christian Lollike at Sort/Hvid, together with the Copenhagen Phil.
The season 2021/2022 featured Benjamin Britten’s A Midsummer Night´s Dream at Malmö Opera, where Thimander sang the role of Flute. Then came the Scandinavian premiere of the quirky opera The Emperor’s New Clothes by Miloš Vacek, which was staged at Norrlandsoperan, featuring Thimander in the role of Jan. The Spring 2022 featured the house debut at The Royal Danish Opera for Thimander, where he sang the absurdly high caricature role of the The Police Inspector in Schostakovich´s opera The Nose. During the Summer he sang the role of Gustav III in Tintomara by Swedish composer Lars Johan Werle at Läckö Castle. The season also featured several concerts including last season´s cancellation of the Christmas Oratorio together with Copenhagen Phil and concerts of the St John´s Passion together with Chamber choir Camerata, some concerts of the St Matthew´s Passion together with Copenhagen boy´s choir and Copenhagen Phil and a spectacular jump in as the tenor soloist in Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen’s Christmas Oratory, together with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra.
The season 2020/2021 featured a return to the Royal Swedish Opera in two very different projects. In the Autumn he played the journalist André in the opera Prima donna, written by the flamboyant singer songwriter Rufus Wainwright – an opera about a diva planning a return to the big stages after six years of silence.
In the Spring Thimander should have performed in the show Station Illusion, based on the opera L’amour médecin by Lully and Le Malade imaginaire by Charpentier, at The Royal Swedish Opera, featuring some of Sweden and Denmark´s best early music musicians, but it got cancelled like several other productions, including a new production at The Royal Swedish Opera of Ariadne auf Naxos, where he would have entered the stage as Brighella and last season´s big success Kärleksmaskinen (The Love Machine) at Piteå Chamber Opera, where Thimander would have played the mad scientist Skarp. Further cancellations included Lars Johan Werles opera Tintomara – one of the Swedish masterpieces – which would have taken place at Läckö Castle, where Thimander would have performed the role of Gustaf III. Among the many concerts that got cancelled were the concerts of the Christmas Oratorio together with Copenhagen Phil.
The season 2019/2020 he was a member of the ensemble at Malmö opera, where he performed Spoletta in Tosca, Mercury in Orpheus in the Underworld and where he should have performed Flute A Midsummer Night´s Dream, had it not gotten cancelled, due to Corona. The season did however also feature a debut at Piteå kammaropera, where he performed the role of the mad scientist Skarp in the world premiere of the opera Kärleksmaskinen (The Love Machine), by Johan Ullén and Sigrid Herrault.
The season 2018/2019 featured a reinvitation to Malmö Opera to sing Remendado in Carmen and to perform the role of Philipp von Hessen in the world premiere of the opera Schlagt sie tot! by Bo Holten and Eva Sommestad Holten.
During the Autumn of the season 2017/2018 he sang Goro in Madame Butterfly at Malmö Opera and then later during the Spring he made his debut at The Gothenburg Opera in the roles of Tanzmeister and Scaramuccio in Ariadne auf Naxos and as Misail and The Holy Fool in Boris Godunov, which will be directed by Peter Konwitschny.
In the season 2016/2017 he returned to Deutsche Oper am Rhein as Trotteltroll in Die Schneekönigin by Marius Felix Lange. Later in the Autumn he sang Don Ottavio on tour at the National theatre in Mannheim in a special version of Mozart´s Don Giovanni called ”Mein Bruder ist Don Juan” composed by Niklas Brommare for The Royal Opera in Stockholm. Festspielhaus Baden Baden featured a pirate version of L’Italiana in Algeri for children, directed by Johannes Schmid, where Thimander sang the part of Lindoro. During the Spring then later he sang the role as Sandon in the epic space opera Aniara by Karl-Birger Blomdahl at Malmö Opera.
The season 2015/2016 included concerts of Mozart Requiem in Tokyo, Japan together with the Swedish Radio Choir and the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Peter Dijkstra. During the Autumn he performed at the Swedish Royal Opera as Åke in Min mamma är en drake and in the Spring he was seen as Mond in Vom Mädchen das nicht schlafen wollte at Theater Bonn and as Trotteltroll in the world premiere of the opera ”Die Schneekönigin” by Marius Felix Lange at Deutsche Oper am Rhein. Other engagements during the season included two different concerts at newly built Malmö Live, together with Malmö Symphony Orchestra featuring The Messiah by GF Händel and the Fourth symphony ”Från havsbandet” by Swedish national romantic composer Hugo Alfvén. During the Summer he sang Ferrando in Così fan tutte at the swedish rococo theatre Confidencen under the baton of Arnold Östman, in a true to the period version, lit solely by candles!
The season 2014/2015 he did Tamino in The Magic Flute at the Swedish Royal Opera, Niko in Gegen die Wand and Mond in Vom Mädchen, das nicht schlafen wollte by Marius Felix Lange at Deutsche Oper am Rhein and Ferrando in Così fan tutte at Jyske Opera, Denmark.
The season 2013/2014 he was employed by the Royal Opera in Sweden where he did Tamino in The Magic Flute and Pong in Turandot. During the season he also appeared as the Tenor in the scenical production of St Matthew Passion, directed by the performance artist Joshua Sofaer at Folkoperan in Stockholm and as Niko at Deutsche Oper am Rhein, in the contemporary opera Gegen die Wand by Ludger Vollmer.
The season 2012/2013 Thimander learnt the part of the Italian singer in Capriccio on a very short notice and sang the premier at the Royal Opera in Sweden where he also sang Remendado in Carmen and Harry in La fanciulla del West, directed by Christof Loy.
He has performed in opera houses such as Royal Swedish Opera, Drottningholm Court Theatre, Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Teatro Piccolo Regio in Torino, Wermland Opera, Folkoperan, Confidencen and Malmö Opera, with conductors such as Pier Giorgio Morandi, Ralf Weikert, Arnold Östman, Lawrence Renes, Vassily Sinaisky, Wen-Pien Chen, Christopher Sprenger, Lukas Beikirchner, Peter Dijkstra, Fredrik Malmberg, Gustav Sjökvist, Stefan Parkman, Risto Joost and with directors such as Peter Konwitschny, Christof Loy, Gregor Horres, Deda Cristina Colonna, Michiel Dijkema, Suzanne Osten, Mira Bartov, Johannes Schmid and Mia Ringblom Hjertner.
On the concert stages Thimander has performed most of the major oratorios. The evangelist from the passions by J.S. Bach has become his speciality. In 2006 Thimander was awarded second prize in the competition Gösta Winbergh Award and in 2013 he received the Swedish Wagner Society Bayreuth Scholarship for his performance of David from a section in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. Conny Thimander is represented in Europe exclusively by Nordic Artists Management.