Christian Westergaard

Christian Westergaard is a Danish pianist and accompanist. He trained at RDAM under Amalie Malling, Niklas Sivelöv and Tove Lønskov.

Teaching

Christian has been employed in the voice department at RDAM since 2008 as a teacher, musical director, répétiteur and accompanist, from 2017 also in the piano department at the same academy, from 2006 at the Opera Academy and the Danish Radio Choir, and from 2010-2018 at the Danish National Academy of Music in Odense as a teacher, musical director and répétiteur. He has been an assistant professor at RDAM since 2020.

Artistic practice

Christian, who regularly works with international stars such as Elsa Dreisig, Bo Skovhus and Mari Eriksmoen, as well as a number of other leading Nordic singers, has performed in London’s Wigmore Hall and the Musikhalle in Hamburg, as well as in the rest of Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.

On Dacapo Records, Christian has released Peter Heise: The Song Edition, one of the biggest releases in Danish music history, the internationally acclaimed CD Tangos, Waltzes and Cinema Music with piano works by Jacob Gade, the CD Chamber Works with Randers Chamber Orchestra and chamber music by Svend Westergaard, and on Kontrapunkt, the CD Songs of their Times with songs by Ib Nørholm (together with Signe Asmussen and Adam Riis).

A complete recording of Herman D. Koppel’s songs and piano works is currently under preparation, as is P.E. Lange-Müller:The Song Edition.

As a musical entrepreneur and programme organiser, he has made his mark with Liedkompagniet, of which he is the founder and artistic director. For a number of years, Liedkompagniet was a central concert venue for lieder in Denmark, and on several occasions hosted premieres of new Danish music. In 2008, the festival presented Herman og David: a three-concert performance of the collected songs of Herman D. Koppel.

Together with bass-baritone Jakob Bloch Jespersen, he runs the project Nye Danske Sange (New Danish Songs), which has held premieres of Danish music for voice and piano by Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgren, Niels Rosing-Schow, Simon Steen-Andersen, Jexper Holmen, Nicolai Worsaae and Simon Løffler.

As a solo pianist, Christian is particularly passionate about Danish piano music and has built up a large repertoire of central works by Niels W. Gade, Carl Nielsen, Herman D. Koppel, Vagn Holmboe and Niels Viggo Bentzon, amongst others.