Philanthropists making a difference
Take part in our customers' inspiring stories about how they choose to give back to contribute to something better. Here they share their thoughts on philanthropy and talk about their various projects.
We think our mother is genuinely smiling in heaven
A great passion for opera and a painting by Miró are behind one of the most dedicated supporters of the Royal Opera in Stockholm. "In this way, our mother could give back for the joy she had from the music, but also get further into the opera world and be involved herself," says Patrik Salén.
The Barbro Salén Foundation annually awards SEK 200,000 to promising young opera singers, which is one of the larger scholarships of its kind. It is a foundation with a lot of excellence, as the foundation's chairman Patrik Salén, also Barbro Salén's son, puts it. The focus of the support is on the Royal Swedish Opera and Stockholm University of the Arts (formerly the University College of Opera, editor's note).
"We are also proud to participate in the Opera's various forms of fundraising, such as “Unga på Operan” and to be a contributing part of the Donation Fund at the Opera," says Patrik Salén.
When Patrik and his sister Katarina's mother, Barbro Salén, passed away in 2019, it was, as Patrik puts it, "a matter of honour" to continue the foundation that Barbro herself had started just over ten years earlier.
"It's fun for my sister and I, to get to meet the people who were close to my mother and who are as passionate about opera as she was. We believe that she is genuinely smiling in heaven. We have never gone to the opera as much as we do now after she passed away," says Patrik Salén.
The painting by Joan Miró laid the foundation for the foundation
Barbro Salén's interest in opera and music grew greatly through her marriage to Christer Salén. Barbro's father-in-law was Sven Salén, who in addition to having founded the Salén shipping companies, was also a dedicated singer, composer, good friend of Jussi Björling and together with Evert Taube, among others, founded Visans Vänner.
"When our mother was at the end of her career as a physiotherapist working with cancer patients at Karolinska Institutet, she wanted to do something stimulating with her time," says Patrik Salén. Barbro Salén had become good friends with the court singer and then principal of the University College of Opera, Birgitta Svendén. Together with her, the idea to support opera students in their quest to make a career took shape, in an extremely competitive job market. At home in the hallway hung a painting, Personnage, painted in 1955 by Joan Miró. It had been bought by Barbro and her husband Christer on their honeymoon in Paris in 1963.
The couple went their separate ways in the end of the 1970s and Barbro decided to sell it and let the proceeds become the start-up capital of Barbro Salén's foundation. The foundation was founded in 2007. "When my mother passed away, she also bequeathed a work of art by Léger, which was then sold and the proceeds went to the foundation," says Patrik Salén.
A dedicated ambassador
Until her death, Barbro Salén herself was very active in the foundation. She was highly involved in the jury work to select the scholarship recipient and was in many ways a committed ambassador for the Royal Swedish Opera and patron of the students at Stockholm University of the Arts. Birgitta Svendén, who after her role as Vice-Chancellor led the Opera as director throughout the 2010s until 2022, has continued to lead the jury work throughout the Foundation's active life together with a number of prominent soloists and conductors.
"With her strong interest in opera, classical music and especially singing, Barbro Salén has meant a lot to several of our, today, established young stars. She understood the strong value of culture in a society that soon turned its back on aesthetic subjects and the impact of music on us humans and how to take advantage of and support tomorrow's stars," says Birgitta Svendén, mentioning soprano Christina Nilsson and tenor Daniel Johansson among the scholarship recipients who today have successful, international careers.
She gave singers the opportunity to continue developing after graduating from the University College of Opera. This phase is crucial as singers must continue to work with good teachers, auditions, rehearsals, and more. Then scholarships are required when the student loan no longer exists," she says.
What does philanthropic efforts mean for culture of this kind in general?
"It's not easy to run this type of business, or to be an artist. I do not believe that there are any contexts, in Sweden or internationally, where public funds are sufficient. But all forms of culture are needed. Music, acting, colours – it enriches everyone," says Patrik Salén
Today, you and your sister continue to run your mother's foundation? You have three daughters and your sister has a son, will they also get involved?
"The only thing we can do now is to invite them to experience the opera, and all four of them enjoy it. The foundation will be able to keep itself alive for a long time, but it is too early to say whether they want to take over or not," says Patrik Salén.
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