Swedish baritone and Court Singer Karl-Magnus Fredriksson has been a member of the Royal Swedish Opera since 1999. During the 2025/26 season, he sang the Speaker in The Magic Flute and Sharpless in Madama Butterfly at the Royal Swedish Opera. In autumn 2026, he returns as Scarpia in Tosca.
Karl-Magnus Fredriksson was appointed Court Singer in 2004. In 2013, he was awarded the Litteris et Artibus Medal by H.M. The King of Sweden. He is also a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
At the Royal Swedish Opera, he has appeared over the years in roles including Figaro in The Barber of Seville, Count Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Marcello in La bohème, Papageno in The Magic Flute, the Stranger in Gefors’s Christina, Fritz/Pierrot in Die tote Stadt, the title role in Eugene Onegin, Count di Luna in Il trovatore, Germont in La traviata, Absalon in Sandström’s Batseba, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Jason in Börtz’s Medea and Anckarström/Renato in Un ballo in maschera.
He has made several guest appearances abroad, including at the New National Theatre Tokyo as Marcello in La bohème.
Karl-Magnus Fredriksson has performed with conductors including Sir Colin Davis, Sir Andrew Davis, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Frans Brüggen, Alan Gilbert, Jesús López-Cobos, Sakari Oramo, Herbert Blomstedt, Leif Segerstam, Pier Giorgio Morandi, Andrew Manze and Lawrence Renes, together with several distinguished orchestras. He also performs internationally in opera and song recitals, orchestral songs and sacred works.
For many years, Karl-Magnus Fredriksson worked closely with the Swedish conductors Eric Ericson and Gustaf Sjökvist, resulting in several world premieres of newly composed music as well as numerous concerts and recordings, including works by J.S. Bach and Handel. His extensive discography comprises some 35 recordings and ranges from masses, oratorios, passions and requiems to Nordic art songs, German Lieder, orchestral songs and operetta. Among his more recent releases is the double album Songs of Life with pianist Mattias Böhm.
Karl-Magnus Fredriksson has frequently appeared on television and radio and throughout his career has been dedicated to performing and promoting the art-song repertoire. In his recitals, he combines Nordic art songs, German Lieder and songs in French, Italian and English with sacred music and Swedish songs. He also works with his own compositions and arrangements for voice, piano and instrumental ensemble.
Karl-Magnus Fredriksson studied at the University College of Opera in Stockholm, where his teacher was Professor and Court Singer Erik Saedén, graduating in 1991. He also studied with Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau. Alongside his career as a singer, he teaches voice and gives masterclasses in vocal technique and interpretation. He is also active as a sculptor, visual artist and composer.
