Sixten Ehrling

Sixten Ehrling, (3 April 1918 – 13 February 2005), was a Swedish conductor who, during a long career, served as the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera and the principal conductor of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, amongst others.

Ehrling was born in Malmö, Sweden, the son of a banker. From the age of 18 he attended the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in . At the academy he studied the violin, organ, and piano as well as conducting. During World War II, he studied under both Karl Böhm and Albert Wolff.

He made his public debut as a conductor with the in 1950, conducting Igor Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" from memory. In 1953 Ehrling was named the music director of the Royal Swedish Opera, a post he held until 1960. During these years he worked closely with the acclaimed singers tenor Jussi Björling and soprano Birgit Nilsson. In the early 1950s Ehrling recorded the first complete set of Sibelius symphonies with the Stockholm orchestra. In 1959 Ehrling took the production of Aniara, composed by Karl-Birger Blomdahl, to the Edinburgh International Festival.