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Stefan Östersjö

born in 1967, is one of the most prominent soloists within new music in Sweden. Since his debut CD (Swedish Grammy in 1997) he has recorded extensively and toured Europe, the US and Asia. He writes articles on contemporary music and is frequently invited to give lectures and master classes at universities, festivals and academic conferences. His special fields of interest are the interaction with electronics, and experimental work with different kinds of stringed instruments other than the classical guitar. His great interest in chamber music has resulted in the founding of flute, viola and guitar-trio HOT 3 and collaboration with most chamber ensembles and important soloists in Scandinavia such as Jonny Axelsson, Geir Draugsvoll, KammarensembleN, Ensemble Gageego and Ensemble Ars Nova. He is continuously working with composers both in Sweden and abroad on the task of extending the repertory of solo works and chamber music with guitar. As a soloist he has cooperated with conductors such as Lothar Zagrosek, Peter Eötvös, Pierre André Valade, Mario Venzago, Franck Ollu and Tuomas Ollila. He has recorded extensively for the Swedish National Radio and also for Swedish TV as well as in many other countries.

Dr. Stefan Östersjö studied with Gunnar Spjuth and Prof Per-Olof Johnsson at the Malmö Academy of Music and also with Peder Riis and Magnus Andersson in Stockholm and Darmstadt. He holds a PhD in the performance of new music, his thesis SHUT UP ‘N’ PLAY! Negotiating the Musical Work is published by Lund University Press. He is at present engaged in artistic research on the performance of new music at the Malmö Academy of Music.

CD's

In 1995 he made his CD debut as soloist on Ensemble Ars Nova's second CD (nominated to a Swedish "Grammy -96" for best classical album). His first soloCD, with works by E Carter, J Dillon, F Donatoni and T Murail, recieved a Swedish "Grammy Award" in the category of "Best Classical Album" in 1998. His second soloCD, with works by Swedish composers, was released in spring 2001. In summer -99 he recorded Kent Olofsson's "Il Liuto d'Orfeo", a recording which is released by GMEB in Bourges and by dB Productions (Sweden). He has recorded the lute works of JS Bach on the 11-stringed alto guitar, released on dB Productions (Sweden) in 2003. In 2003 “Trio con Forza”, a constellation of Swedish works for flute, viola and guitar, with HOT 3 was released on Phono Suecia. His fourth solo CD on dB Productions, “Play Time” with works for guitar and electronics was released in 2004. In 2005 “Rhizome”, a portrait CD with works for guitar and chamber ensemble by Swedish composer Christer Lindwall was released on Phono Suecia (Sweden). His recording of Kent Olofsson’s Guitar Concerto “Corde” with the Gothenburg Symphony and Mario Venzago was released on Phono Suecia in 2008. He has also recorded the complete guitar works by Danish composer Per Nørgård, released on Caprice records in autumn 2008.

http://www.myspace.com/stefanostersjo http://www.youtube.com/user/ostersjo

Natasha Barrett

Dr. Natasha Barrett (1972) works foremostly with composition and creative uses of sound. Her output spans concert composition through to sound-art, large sound-architectural installations, collaboration with experimental designers and scientists, acousmatic performance interpretation and more recently live electroacoustic improvisation. Whether writing for live performers or electroacoustic forces, the focus of this work stems from an acousmatic approach to sound, the aural images it can evoke and an interest in techniques that reveal detail the ear will normally miss. The spatio-musical potential of acousmatic sound features strongly in her work. Barrett studied in England with Jonty Harrison and Denis Smalley for masters and doctoral degrees in composition. Both degrees were funded by the humanities section of the British Academy. Since 1999 Norway has been her compositional and research base for an international platform.

Barrett's works are performed and commissioned throughout the world. Her installations have been set-up in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Australia, and include a major work for the Norwegian state commission for art in public spaces. Her composition has received numerous recognitions, most notably the Nordic Council Music Prize (Norden / Scandinavia, 2006), Edvard Prize (2004, Norway), Noroit-Leonce Petitot (Arras, France, 2002 & 1998), Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Awards (France 2001, 1998 & 1995), Musica Nova (2001), IV CIMESP 2001, Concours Scrime, (France 2000), International Electroacoustic Creation Competition of Ciberart (Italy 2000), Concours Luigi Russolo (Italy 1995 & 1998), Prix Ars Electronica (Linz, Austria 1998), 9th International Rostrum for electoacoustic music (2002).

Her compositions are available on Aurora (ACD5056 and ACD5037), empreintes DIGITALes (IMED 0262), Euridice (EUCD026), Albedo (ALBCD024), CDCM Computer Music Series and Cultures Electroniques Bourges. As a performer of acousmatic works she travels over the world to collaborate with loudspeaker orchestras, smaller diverse solutions and sound-art projects.