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Presentation
A Swedish composer who completed his Master studies in Composition in 2008 at the Academy of Stage and Music in Gothenburg and at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, with the thesis project Dialogue Music: The Dead Angles of Contemporary Music.
He works mainly with contemporary stage art, theatre and film. Central to Thorsson’s process is a visual and musical exploration of the potential for his work to be infiltrated by other genres and times. Often in the form of experimental, improvisational projects that include diverse media, his works pose existential questions about music as a contemporary art form.
Since 1998, Thorsson has collaborated with artists from other fields on some thirty cross-disciplinary art projects. On his own, he has composed over forty works; ranging from soloists and various chamber ensemble formations to larger choirs and orchestras.
In tandem with his compositional practice, he writes reviews and essays for (mainly) four magazines: KunstForum (visual arts), Scenekunst (performing arts), Ballade and Nutida Musik (contemporary music).
Education
2006-2008 Master degree in composition at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg, Sweden. Exchange studies 2008 at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music in Berlin, Germany.
2003-2006 Bachelor degree in composition at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg, Sweden.
2001-2003 Gotland School of Composition in Visby, Sweden.
1996-2001 Freelance musician. Private piano and composition studies.
1994-1996 Music School (Jazz Department) at Skurup, Sweden.
1993-1994 Jazz Diploma (Electric/Acoustic bass) at the New School of Music in New York, USA.
1992-1993 Musicology at the University of Lund, Sweden.
Recent Production
2024
Stage Art: Resultat Garantert (Ca. 90′) (Premiere Spriten Kunsthal, Skien, Norway 31.05.2024)
New work: Double Sided Trinket (15’) Concerto for Viola, Cello & Orchestra. (Not premiered)
2023
New work: Kleine Welt (30’) for Quintet. (Not premiered)
New work: It came to me one night (12’) for Baritone, pianotrio & electronics. (Kongsberg Kirke, Norway, 27.01.2023)
2022
Stage Art: Den første berører (21’) for electronics. (Black Box theater, Oslo, Norway, 12-15.04.2022)
New work: Overhead Thinker (17’) for Orchestra. (Not premiered)
New work: into my arms – The Interventionist (6’) for sinfonietta. (Västerås sinfonietta, Sweden, 21.01.2022)
2021
Text: Goethes klingende urplante. A music festival review from Musikfest Berlin, Scenekunst (SK)
Radio drama: I min egen nat – Kopfkino (48’)
Revised work: One of two trios (21’) for nine instruments. (Not premiered)
2020
Hybrid work: Kredens (27’) for accordeon & cello to the documentary (2008) by J. Dammas. (Taksigelseskirken, Copenhagen, Denmark, 31.08.2020)
Stage Art: Resultat Garantert! (Ca. 120′) (Premiere Spriten Kunsthal, Skien, Norway 11.09.2020)
New work: Resultat Garantert! (24′) for Brass sextet, percussion & various vocals. (Spriten Kunsthal, Skien, Norway 11.09.2020)
2019
Stage Art / New work: Variations on a theme (20′) for Chamber ensemble, electronics & video. (Werkhalle Wiesenburg, Berlin, Germany, 23.08.2019)
Revised work: Via di San Teodoro (30′) for Chamber Ensemble, Soundtrack & Video (Not premiered)
Text: Ultraschall 2019. A music festival review, Nutida Musik (NM)
Artist-in-Residence: Circolo Scandinavo, Rome, Italy
2018
New work: Lidelsens Jubel (65’) for Countertenor, Choir & Organ. (Vår Frue Kirke, Trondheim, Norway, 11.11.2018)
New work: A dog came in the kitchen (17′) for Chamber Ensemble (Not premiered)
New work: Les Ombres (6′) for electronics (Das Jüdische Museum Berlin, 23.03.2018)
Text: Maerzmusik. A music festival review, Nutida Musik (NM)
Text: Kontraklang. A music festival review, NM
Text: Ultraschall. A music festival review, NM
2017
Stage Art: Det siste mennesket (20’) for voice & electronics. (Performance at HAMAR festival, Norway, 21.10.2017)
New work: Ritual (10′) for guitar, cello & bassoon (Premiered at KALV festival, Sweden, 11.08.2017)
Installation: Between the Bowl & the Wall (Premiered in Sarpsborg Church 14.06.2017)
New work: Broken Piece (17′) for cello & orchestra (Not premiered)
Text: Planer for fremtidige situasjoner. A concert review from Berlin for Ballade
Artist-in-Residence: VICC, Visby, Sweden
2016
New work: 25MCB3 (00′) for Jazztrio. (25 songs in a bound collection)
New work: Toccata for Piano and Percussion (16′). With soundtrack. (Not premiered)
Text: Improvisert avsjedssang. A review from Berlin Art Week, Ballade
Text: Det nya har blivit äldre. A music festival review, Nutida Musik (NM)
Artist-in-Residence: Swedish Institute, Paris, France
Artist-in-Residence: VICC, Visby, Sweden
2015
New work: Good Morning Kirkland! (3’33″) A trio for piano with optional woodwind and string instrument. (Not premiered)
New work: Via di San teodoro (30’) for soprano, mezzosoprano, string quartet, electronics & video. (Not premiered)
New work: Triptych 1981 (15′) for two violins. (Not premiered)
Stage Art: Do No More Than Look (15’) for video & electronics. (Premiered in New York, USA, 18.09.2015)
Stage Art: Det siste mennesket (20’) for voice & electronics. (Premiered in Skien, Norway, 26.02.2015)
Text: Associativa rum. An art review, Tidningen Kulturen (TK)
Text: Et parlament av former. An art review, KunstFORUM (KF)
Text: Dramaturgienes konsekvenser. An art review, KF
Text: Ekte fiksjon. A music festival review, Scenekunst (SK)
Text: Døden i Körnerpark. An art review, KF
Text: Følelsens mekanisering. An art review, KF
Artist-in-Residence: Circolo Scandinavo, Rome, Italy
2014
Stage Art: Der Letzte Mensch (60’) for electronics. (Premiered in Berlin, 20.09.2014)
New work: V (21’) for Orchestra. (Not premiered)
New work: Three point one four (13’) for Mixed Choir a Cappella. (Not premiered)
New work: The Dismounted Heaven (10’) for Viola, English Horn & Chamber Ensemble (Not premiered)
New work: One of two elegiac trios (23’) for nine instruments. (Not premiered)
Text: Ordtsunami i Berlin. A music festival review, SK.
Text: Redefining displaced form. An art review, KF.
Text: Ultraschall. A music festival review, Nutida Musik (NM).
2013
New work: Hybrid (12’) for String ensemble. (Premiered in Orihuela, Spain, 26.04.2014)
New work: Auto Body (8’) for Chamber Choir. (Premiered in Vienna, Austria, 13.11.2013)
Stage Art: A prayer for an unborn child (60’) for electronics. Premiered in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Text: Tidens pil og irreversible hendelser. An essay on time, KF.
Text: Metallarbetarens eteriska dotter. An essay on Kaija Saariaho, Tidningen Kulturen (TK).
Text: Maerzmusik. A music festival review, TK.
Text: Musik som minnesmärken. An essay on Lars Petter Hagen and Christian Boltanski, TK.
Text: A question of grain. An art review, KF.
Text: Is it a mortal sin to stagnate? An art review, KF.
Text: The language of art. An art review, KF.
Text: Art fallen into oblivion. An art review, KF.
2012
New work: Don’t bang the drum (11’) for Orchestra. (An extract (8′) premiered 03.06.2015 at Berwaldhallen in Stockholm, by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra)
New work: A dog came in the kitchen (13’) for String trio & Vocal quartet. (Not premiered)
New work: Seven (49’) for Piano trio. (Not premiered)
New work: Into my arms (5’) for Chamber ensemble. (Not premiered)
Text: Robert Schumann & misslyckandets triumf. An essay on Schumann, TK.
Text: Vridning – Motstånd – Stoft. An essay on contemporary german music, TK.
Text: Simplicity full of nuances. An art review, KF.
Text: Beräknande konst i Hamburg. Art review, TK.
Text: Nørgård i tid och evighet. An essay on Per Nørgård, TK.
Text: Cartaditalia. An essay on contemporary italian music, TK.
Text: Svampens uppgift är att befria världen från gammalt skräp. An essay on John Cage, TK.
Text: Ultima musikdrama – The List. A music festival review, TK & Scenekunst, Norway.
2011
New work: Auto Body (8’) for Chamber choir. Will be premiered at ISCM 2013, Vienna, Austria.
New work: The Shadows (16’) for two pianos. (Not premiered)
New work: 11 rhythmic studies (14’) for piano. (Not premiered)
New work/Stage Art: The lost humanity (30’) for Organ & Electronics. Premiered at Jacobskyrkan, Oslo
Text: Det klingande sakramentet. An essay on liturgical music, TK.
Text: Är musiken hemlös? An essay on Heiner Goebbels, TK.
2010
Festival/Stage Art: Saba Pacha (40’) for Chamber ensemble. Ultima festival, Oslo.
New work/Stage Art: Who is Lou? (60’) for electronics. Proekt Fabrika, Moscow, Russia
New work: Streich Quartet V (18’) for String Quartet. (Not premiered)
2009
Festival: Shore Leave (15’) for Chamber ensemble, ISCM, Sydney, Australia.
New work/Stage Art: Esther is Crawling (50’) for electronics. Aarhus museum of modern art, Denmark.
New work: Waltz after Stromberg (9’) for Chamber ensemble. (Not premiered)
Text: Det som har varit följer med oss men nu i nya otydliga skepnader. An essay on experiences of music through history, TK
Text: Den nya musikens åldrande, isolering och estetiska kortslutning. An essay on Adorno, TK
2008
New work/Film score: Kredens (30’). A documentary by Jacob Dammas, Warsaw, Poland.
Text: Dialogue music. Master dissertation at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg, Sweden.
Text: Att lyssna är att observera sig själv. An essay on Helmut Lachenmann, TK
Contact
E-mail: mail@stefanthorsson.com
Phone: +46-701-109003