Category: Blog posts

On the one hand, I can scarcely believe it has already been over a month since my last blog post. On the other, I can definitely believe it, considering what an incredibly stressful month it has been. Perhaps you thought I had abandoned my blog, dear reader, not even a year into this lovely regular… Continue reading What a Difference a Month Makes

I have been too busy these past days to update the blog, but at the time of writing, Thursday afternoon, I am beginning to get back on top of things and want to take a few moments to muse on the experience of performing in Härnösand Cathedral last Sunday. I went to High School in… Continue reading A Real Singer

I started teaching Western Music History at the Kapellsberg School of Music in Härnösand last semester. This week, I have been reading up on the development of the opera, ahead of my next lexture. It is quite fascinating to trace the opera as a form and genre through the years and across national borders. Very… Continue reading From Florence to Paris and Beyond

This still relatively new year already appears to bring plenty of exciting new opportunities and experiences, and the year has only just gotten started! At the same time, I have made an informal promise to myself not to overexert myself or stress over things too much. I am not one to make New Year’s resolutions.… Continue reading A Promising Year

Inevitably, as another year comes to an end, there comes a time for reflection and for resolutions, for looking back as well as dead ahead. Personally, the passage of time doesn’t frighten or concern me, nor does getting older. What is important is spending my time on worthwhile things. Earlier this year I came across… Continue reading One Must Live Every Note

Writing a post with a title like that on the darkest day of the year might seem coolly ironic, but I do mean it quite sincerely. After all, from now on it will only get brighter with each passing day. The days and weeks before Christmas are typically packed with musical events this year, as… Continue reading Let There Be Light

The title of this post is an approximate translation of the first line of one of Sweden’s most well-known Lucia hymns, sung up and down the country by choirs young and old on and around December 13th. Saint Lucia of Syracuse, or at least the actual Saint Lucy’s Day, seems to be mostly venerated in… Continue reading O, Radiant Elfin Saint

Quoting, sampling, remixing existing music is commonplace in various popular genres but, generally, not nearly as commonplace in orchestral, choral or chamber music. There are of course exceptions, as with most things, but in general this practice is absent in and around various forms of art music. One fairly recent exception is German-British composer and… Continue reading A Tale Told By an Idiot

Sometimes you just have to know when to give up. Not every fight is worth fighting. As someone who has struggled with unreasonably high demands on myself pretty much since first grade, this is something I have a regretfully large experience with. Unfortunately, most of that experience is in the form of giving in to… Continue reading Knowing Is Half the Battle

Antonio Vivaldi’s famous set of four violin concertos, each depicting one of the four seasons, doubtlessly rank among the most famous of all ”classical” (though actually Baroque and not Classical) music works. For decades, they have been repeatedly performed, quoted, rearranged, deconstructed and recontextualised. The 20th century saw a rise in the interest in the… Continue reading Le Quattro Stagioni