Inside the Music

The Living Composers of the Nordic Soundscapes Festival

December 30, 2024

Our first-ever Nordic Soundscapes Festival (January 10-18) is a celebration of hygge and Scandinavian stories dreamt up by Music Director Thomas Søndergård. The fest marries his passions for his home region's sense of style, comfort, food, culture and legacy artists; but one of the things Thomas most looks forward to sharing with you are the living artists creating the sounds of the region today.

Daniel Bjarnason, Ørjan Matre, Bent Sørensen and Outi Tarkiainen are the living composers whose music we're sharing with you in the 2025 Nordic Soundscapes Festival. Get to know them:

Daniel Bjarnason | Photo by Saga Sig

Iceland: Daniel Bjarnason

B: February 26, 1979
Reykjavik, Iceland

Work being performed: Air to Breath, from Bow to String for Cello and Orchestra* (2012)
*solo cello will be performed by Anthony Ross from his principal seat

Quick facts:

Recognized for his work as a composer and a conductor
His works have been premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the New York Philharmonic and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Upcoming projects include the score for animated film The Last Whale Singer, set for release next summer
Bow to String originated in the studio—it was recorded by a single player in 40 layers. We’ll perform the 2011 arrangement for cello and orchestra

Daniel Bjarnason on his work, Bow to String:

For this piece I wanted to make music that was somehow frozen in time, like a painting.”

So that you would not feel like you had been experiencing a narrative that is moving chronologically from A-Z, but rather that you are looking at the same object from different angles and in different light....Music that was simply present, that you could spend time ‘inside’ and belong to without emotional attachment.”

Video: Meet Daniel Bjarnason

Hear Air to Breath January 10 and 11 as part of Nordic Landscapes and Portraits

Ørjan Matre

Norway: Ørjan Matre

B: December 6, 1979
Bergen, Norway

Quick Facts:

Studied composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music
Named composer of the year by the Oslo Philharmonic during their 2012-13 season
Matre’s compositional interests have him sampling from his past works and works by other composers, as well as playing with the forms of existing works; this can be seen in pieces including Händel Mixtapes, the clarinet concerto Inside Out, and the work MinnOrch performs January 17-19, Lyric Pieces (which is billed as a “modern remix” of six miniatures written by Edvard Grieg)

Hear Lyric Pieces for Orchestra:

Hear Lyric Pieces for Orchestra live January 16-18 as part of Nordic Tales and Folklore

Bent Sørensen

Denmark: Bent Sørensen

B: July 18, 1958
Borup, Denmark

Work being performed: Evening Land (2017)

Quick Facts:

Studied composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music—just like MinnOrch Music Director Thomas Søndergård
He is a winner of the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for Music, which he was given in 2018 for his triple concerto L’isola della Cittá
His work Evening Land, which we perform as part of the Nordic Soundscapes Festival, was commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic under the baton of former MinnOrch Music Director Edo de Waart

Sørensen on Evening Land:

I have forgotten so much from my childhood, but for some reason this vision has kept coming back to me. ”

The vision returned many years later, as I was looking out over New York from a high balcony. The vision from more than 50 years ago—the vision of quiet—mixed with the new vision of flashes of light and bustling activity. I had found the title, Evening Land, and the music came out of the title—of the two visions.”

Hear it January 10 and 11 as part of Nordic Landscapes and Portraits

Outi Tarkiainen | Photo by Anu Jormalainen

Finland: Outi Tarkiainen

B: February 7, 1985
Rovaniemi, Finland

Work being performed: Midnight Sun Variations (2019)

Quick facts:

Tarkiainen studied composition at the Sibelius Academy, where MinnOrch Conductor Laureate Osmo Vänskä also studied
Her work as a pianist and composer explores multiple genres, including jazz, classical and contemporary music
Her music has most often been inspired by her home country’s northern landscapes, as she hails from the Lapland region of Finland
Her compositions also often explore the intensity of womanhood and motherhood

Meet Outi Tarkiainen:

[T]he northern sky above the Arctic Circle in summer reflects a rich spectrum of infinitely nuanced hues that, as autumn draws near, become veiled in shadow until darkness slowly descends and the sun ceases to rise above the horizon. ”

My son was born on the night when the summer’s last warm day gave way to a dawn shrouded in autumnal mist. Midnight Sun Variations is also about giving birth to new life, when the woman and the child within her part company, restoring her former self as the light fades into winter.”

-Tarkiainen on Midnight Sun

Hear Midnight Sun January 10 and 11 as part of Nordic Landscapes and Portraits

Kari Sundström | Photo by Zoe Prinds-Flash

Finland (and Minnesota): Kari Sundström

B: 1967
Sahalahti, Finland

Quick Facts:

Joined the Minnesota Orchestra trombone section in 1996. He was previously a member of the Helsinki Philharmonic

Sundström explains that Chromatic Fantasy was influenced by the music of Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Hindemith and Bach—and by the playing of Ross, to whom the work is dedicated.

Sundström on Chromatic Fantasy:

Sundström on Chromatic Fantasy:

"As I was writing, I tried to keep Anthony Ross’ expressive style of interpreting in mind. Chromatic Fantasy is my take on what I envision a Shostakovich solo cello work would sound like, ultimately resolving in a musical cryptogram with Shostakovich’s initials in German transliteration."

Hear it Sunday, January 12 at Nordic Soundscapes Festival: Chamber Music in the Hall

Don't miss our Nordic Soundscapes Festival January 10-18—two weeks of music of the Scandinavian region conducted by Music Director Thomas Søndergård and lots of cozy programming to go with it.

Learn More