Wilhelm Carlsson appointed new Pro-Vice-Chancellor of SKH

Pro-Vice-Chancellor is the second-highest leadership position at SKH. The person holding the position acts as deputy to the Vice-Chancellor and provides support in leading and steering the university forward in various ways.

“I am very enthusiastic about the assignment,” Wilhelm Carlson says. “It is now a full ten years since SKH was formed. The merger of the different schools has been a considerable challenge, and the development has probably felt dramatic at times. But now we are entering another more mature phase, and we have an exciting time to look forward to. Not least as, in a few years’ time, we will work together in a single building.”

Until the summer of 2024, Wilhelm Carlsson was Professor of Music Dramatic Performance at the Opera subject unit at SKH, a role he had held since 2011. Before that, he had a long career as a performing arts director, which began with studies at SKH’s predecessor, the Swedish Institute of Dramatic Arts, in the early 1970s.

After his studies, he formed the experimental independent group Teater Schahrazad, and has since worked both as a salaried director at The Royal Dramatic Theatre and as a freelancer for theatres and opera houses around Sweden. In addition to theatre and opera, he has also made radio theatre, still image film and performances related to dance. In the early 1980s, Teater Schahrazad was a pioneer in bringing contemporary circus to Sweden through a guest performance by the French group Cirque Aligre.

“You could say that I have dabbled in everything that is available at SKH, all subject areas, none of them are foreign to me,” Wilhelm Carlsson says. “This means – which feels very good for this role – that I have an understanding and feel for what all our artistic areas are doing.”

As Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Wilhelm Carlsson will work very closely with SKH's Vice-Chancellor, Ellen Røed. The two know each other well in a professional setting, having worked together for many years in the artistic research field. The first step for the new Pro-Vice-Chancellor will be to further familiarise himself with the organisation and the Vice-Chancellor's priorities.

In doing so, he returns to the leadership of the school; at the beginning of SKH's existence, he worked for a period as Vice-Rector, but felt that he could do more good as a professor in creating community and unity in the newly merged school.

“One of the most exciting things about SKH is the collaboration across borders, the meeting between the different disciplines,” says Wilhelm Carlsson. “It's something I really want to continue working on. Another challenge is to ensure that research becomes an even more integrated part of SKH’s activities, right down to undergraduate level. These things are still new, and we’re going to go ahead and explore the possibilities that this all entails. Another important issue is how to make SKH even more visible and respected in the outside world.”

The position of Pro-Vice-Chancellor is an assignment at 50% of full time.