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Bjørn Erik Simensen (28 June 1947 – 28 March 2025) was a Norwegian culture administrator and journalist who was known as director of the
Norwegian National Opera The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet () 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 organisation in the country, it is currently resi ...
from 1984 to 1990 and 1997 to 2009.


Life and career

Simensen was born in
Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...
on 28 June 1947. Starting his career as a journalist, he worked in ''
Fredriksstad Blad is the biggest local daily newspaper in Fredrikstad, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen an ...
'' and then in ''
Sunnmørsposten ''Sunnmørsposten'' () is a newspaper published by Polaris Media in Ålesund, Norway. History and profile In its early days, ''Sunnmørsposten'' competed with several other local newspapers, including '' Aalesunds Avis'' (1917–1957), '' Aales ...
'' from 1966 to 1972. He then worked as a culture administrator. First, 1973 to 1980, he worked in
Sandefjord Sandefjord () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Vestfold. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Sandefjord ...
municipality. He then became director of
Gothenburg Concert Hall Gothenburg Concert Hall is a concert hall located in Gothenburg, Sweden, which was built in 1935. The architect for the facility was Nils Einar Ericsson, a major advocate of Functionalism. However, the Concert Hall has a Neo-Classical exterio ...
from 1980 to 1984, then of the
Gothenburg Symphony Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra (GSO; ) is a Swedish symphony orchestra based in Gothenburg. The GSO is resident at the Gothenburg Concert Hall at Götaplatsen. The orchestra received the title of the National Orchestra of Sweden () in 1997. Ba ...
before his first period as director of the Norwegian National Opera, from 1984 to 1990. Simensen was editor-in-chief for the national newspaper ''
Dagbladet () is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally it was considered the main liberal newspaper of Norway, with a ...
'' from 1990 to 1995 before returning to the National Opera. He oversaw the construction of the
Oslo Opera House The Oslo Opera House () is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera house in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is operated by S ...
, which was opened in 2008. He stepped down in 2009. On 3 December 2007, Simensen was appointed Commander of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. Simensen died on 28 March 2025, at the age of 77.


References


External links

* 1947 births 2025 deaths Norwegian theatre directors Norwegian newspaper editors Dagbladet people People from Lillehammer {{Norway-journalist-stub