Niklas Willén

Niklas Willén (born March 30, 1961) is a Swedish conductor. He was born in Stockholm and studied conducting and composition there at the Royal College of Music. His conducting teachers were Professors Jorma Panula and Kjell Ingebretsen and his composition tutors were Ingvar Karkoff and Daniel Börtz. Niklas Willén has served as Principal Guest Conductor of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Chief Conductor of the Nordic Chamber Orchestra in Sweden and the South Jutland Symphony Orchestra in Denmark. He has also been General Music Director of the Volkstheater Rostock and Chief Conductor of the North German Philharmonic Orchestra and he is currently Chief Conductor of the WDR Radio Orchestra in Cologne, Germany. Willén works with major orchestras and opera houses in Scandinavia, the rest of Europe and the USA. He has recorded for a number of labels including Naxos, BIS and Hyperion. He has 4 children, Linnea, Julius, Hugo and Ossian.