Mikael Melbye

Born 1955

Born in Copenhagen, it was music that was to be Mikael Melbye's artistic outlet for the first 30 years of his adult life. He became an internationally known opera singer and sang on virtually every major opera stage of the world including La Scala in Milan, San Carlo in Naples, Rome opera, Covent Garden and The Met in NYC. CDs include the Phillips recording of "The Magic Flute" with Sir Colin Davies and the "Carmen" with Herbert von Karajan. The last 10 years he has devoted the majority of his time to directing and designing for the stage in Denmark and abroad. Mikael Melbye was bestowed a knighthood by Her Majesty The Queen Margrethe II in 1996 and a peerage in 2006.

Through all this he never stopped pursuing his love for painting. Some years ago he completed a large oil portrait of his singing mentor and long time friend Royal Opera singer Ib Hansen. He offered it as a gift for The Royal Danish Opera for their collection, where it is now on permanent display. Since then he has been much in demand for full-scale classical oil portraits in Denmark and abroad. His paintings can be found in museums and private collections in Europe, USA and Australia.

Selected Commissions and Collections

• The Marquess of Salisbury for Hatfield House
• Peter Firth, Actor
• Dame Susse Wold, actress
• Dame, Royal Commander, Ghita Noerby (Actress) For the Christianborg Museum Collection, Copenhagen
• Mr Joergen Faerch, President of Scandinavian Tobacco Company
• Mr John O. Crosby, Founder and President of The Santa Fe Opera
• Mr Vagn Egeberg, President of Young & Rubicam Scandinavia
• Katinka and Bettina Aller, Executive Directors of Aller Press Inc.
• Mayor Hans Moeller Olsen, Odsherred
• Mayor Svend Kjaergaard, Egede
• Mr Niels Nygaard, President of the Danish Trade association for The Copenhagen Stock exchange

Exhibitions

• Fine Art Commissions Ltd. London, 2006/7
• The Kirsten Kjaer Museum, 2006
• Galleria Il Ponte Contemporanea, Rome, 2005
• Henrik Kampmann Gallery, Copenhagen, 2005
• The Gimsinghoved Kulturcenter, Struer, 2004
• Scandinavian Art Fair in The Forum, Copenhagen, 2003
• Susanne Hoejriis Gallery, Copenhagen 2001, 2002