Category: Blog posts

I find it quite stimulating to alternate between working on completely new pieces and revising or reworking older ones. Returning to older pieces like this renews my appreciation of my previous works, at the same time as it highlights my continued development as a composer. There is a potential danger, or at least a problem,… Continue reading It Don’t Mean A Thing

Has it really been almost two weeks since my last post? (It sure seems that way.) I have been busy working on several pieces both old and new, and on top of that my lovely fiancée came to visit last week which added even more to the pile of distractions keeping me from my blogging… Continue reading Musical Multi-Tasking

Yesterday evening I had the great pleasure of hearing the brilliant Trio Nastela in concert in Härnösand. The trio’s well-balanced programme included music by Classical and Romantic composers as well as by two contemporary Swedish composers. Three amazing musicians make up the trio: bassoonist Sebastian Stevensson, whom I of course know rather well; oboist Emmanuel… Continue reading Musicianship In Its Purest Form

This Monday I co-led admissions tests for music composition applicants to the Kapellsberg Music School in Härnösand. The applicants were tested on basic music theory and ear training, general stylistic knowledge, creative compositional thinking and basic instrumentation skills, as well as being interviewed individually by the head composition teacher and myself. It’s interesting to hear… Continue reading The Blue Giant Passes By

Besides finally getting the chance to start working on some brand new compositions, I have also gone back to a couple of my older works to gently edit, or in some cases, rework them more comprehensively. Perhaps most exciting are the new pieces I’m working on. To be fair, one of those ostensibly new pieces… Continue reading Like Reacquainting Yourself With an Old Friend

Still a little tired after Saturday’s marathon working with this year’s edition of the local contemporary music festival Nymus Live in Härnösand. Weeks of preparation paid off handsomely in the form of a diverse, all-day programme with no less six concerts featuring various flavours of contemporary music. The afternoon started off with a kind of… Continue reading In the Service of Music

I admire musicians who not only work in different genres and settings but also relish and even excel in them. That is just the kind of musician I myself strive to be, as well. I suppose it relates to my belief that it makes more sense to look at how different kinds of music relate… Continue reading More than Two Sides

Re-orchestrating or re-arranging music from one instrumental setting to another is an interesting job that presents slightly different challenges than simply writing a brand new piece of music for a particular set of instruments. On the one hand, you have the existing music that is (presumably) written with the particular requirements, possibilities and of course… Continue reading Don’t Despair, My Would-Be Juliet

The other week, I was commissioned to write a biographical text about Professor Dorothy Irving, an extraordinary singer and voice coach who devoted her career to the awareness and development of communication between stage performers and their audience. For more than a decade, Dorothy Irving toured up and down the country performing classic works by… Continue reading A Method of Communication Between Individuals

Another jam-packed work week is the reason behind yet another delayed blog post. The annual contemporary art music festival Swedish Spring Music opened last Saturday and has been occupying most of my waking hours since as I am working behind the scenes with the festival and presenting most of the concerts. In addition, I squeezed… Continue reading The Sound of the Future, Today