Stockholm based Bengt Gomér designs for the stage.
His work encompasses opera, musicals, dance, concerts and plays, as well as visual art installations. His recent projects have been primarily related to music – he works visually, and creates live performance derived from musical inspiration that combines stage design, lighting and video. He sometimes directs these projects himself, but he also enjoys collaborating with a wide range of directors, including Sam Brown, Åsa Melldahl, Nils Spagenberg, Mellika Melouani Melani and Olivier Tambosi.
He has created varied projects including staged concerts for the Royal Swedish Philharmonic, the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra; fully staged operas (Turandot – Dalhalla Opera); and opera evenings he has conceived himself (Bluebeard’s Castle / Erwartung – Konserthuset Stockholm / David Geffen Hall, New York). He has enjoyed collaborations with some of the world’s leading singers and conductors, including Nina Stemme, Katarina Karneus, Johannes Martin Kränzle, Malin Byström, Peter Mattei, John Lundgren, Alan Gilbert, Daniel Harding, Sakari Oramo, Thomas Dausgaard & Japp van Zweden.
Bengt frequently collaborates with composers and has worked on over a dozen world premieres, including compositions by Karolina Eiriksdottir, Line Tjørnhøj, Joao MacDowell, Jonas Forssell, Sven-David Sandström and Moto Osada a.o.
He is committed to developing the next generation of artists and has taught scenography and lighting at the Stockholm University of the Arts.
Press voices
Coppélia – Scottish Ballet 2022
”This Coppélia is a successful stride into ballet’s future” – Lyndsay Winship, The Guardian
”…the set, light, costume and video designers have outdone themselves, in this new and I’m inclined to say, ground – breaking production…” – Kelly Apter, The Scotsman
”…although some of the designer Bengt Gomér’s lighting choices, seem a tad murky, his streamlined set – essential one large, clinical, white space surrounded by invisible doorways, and ideal as a projection surface – is just right.” – Donald Hutera, The Times
”…much of Dr Coppélius and Swanhild’s interactions are filmed and beamed onte the rear of Bengt Gomér’s set, creating an often bracing interplay betyween the ”live action” and the lightshow.” – Marc Monahan, The Daily Telegraph
Parsifal – Opera North 2022
”Leeds Grand Theatre is used as never before. Its great stage-side pillars and rounded proscenium arch are like a temple in themselves (its architecture is strikingly similar to images of the Act One set for the first production at Bayreuth in 1882), and what was the orchestra pit has been built into a series of rising platforms forming a thrust section of the set, taking the drama into the body of the house and creating a sense that performers and audience together are a great congregation engaging in sacred mysteries, which would surely have pleased Wagner very much.” – Robert Beale, Theatre Reviews North
”Many of the visual touches – mist and gauzes masking the onstage orchestra; a flickering wall of golden light (the lighting design was by Bengt Gomer) – were beautiful in their simplicity and evocative power.” – Richard Bratby, The Spectator
Erwartung & Duke Bluebeard’s Castle – New York Philharmonic 2019
”The staging by the director Bengt Gomer demonstrated how to make maximally dramatic use of minimal space. Mr. Gomer used the constricted space at David Geffen Hall to create a simple, haunting staging. Behind the two singers, a video showed images of a murky tunnel, with industrial cables lining the endless walls. It allowed Ms. Stemme and the baritone Johannes Martin Kränzle to dominate the drama.” – Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times
”With a brilliant staging by Bengt Gomer (including set and lighting) and his team, the semi-staged concert was a superb realization of complex musical drama that engaged all our senses, gripping and absorbing” – Ako Imamura, Bachtrack
”Friday evening’s double bill succeeded on many fronts, thanks to the great pairing of the works, evocative conducting, and inspired direction. While Gomer’s production achieved much with a highly limited set, some of the more shocking moments within the works, such as the final reveal in “Erwartung,” suffer from its strangeness. Nonetheless, the New York Philharmonic staged a sensational and highly thought-provoking concert.” – Logan Martell, Opera Wire
”The language of Schönberg and Bartok might be rather elusive from an intellectual standpoint, but viscerally, no misunderstanding is possible. Its emotional power is undeniable, and it could not have been more evident than in this evening’s absolutely stunning performances. Katarina Karnéus executed the treacherously difficult Schönberg pieces with technical transcendence and impeccable musicianship. Her dramatic palate was immense, and her skill as an actress compelling. Johannes Martin Kränzle as Bluebeard, and Nina Stemme as Judith gave the best performances this listener has yet heard either by way of recording or several decades of Metropolitan Opera productions. An immense video screen, capable of casting transparent images, was placed at the rear center of the stage, revolutionizing the entire aesthetic of operatic scenery.” – Raymond Beegle, Classical Voice