Trondheim Chamber Music Festival has put Trondheim on the international music map with our annual presentation of festival composers.Our goal is to showcase as broad a spectrum as possible of the composer throughout the festival week, all while including and inspiring the local music scene. We believe the barrier to new music is reduced when you can meet a living composer, hear their works, and listen to them talk about their music. The traditional seminar "Meet the composer" in collaboration with NTNU, is a unique opportunity to get close to such a great artist.
After 30 years, the list is impressive, and this year's festival composer is no exception:
Jörg Widmann from Germany is a rare multitalent—he plays the clarinet, conducts, and composes at the highest international level. As a musician, we will hear Widmann perform both Mozart's Clarinet Quintet and his own works. He will also conduct the Trondheim Soloists at Dokkhuset and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra in Olavshallen. Some of the highlights include Hunting Quartet and the energetic piece 180 Beats per Minute, inspired by Berlin’s club scene in the 1990s.
Click here to read festival writer Kai Kristiansen´s interview with Widmann.
Click here to read more about Jörg Widmann and listen to our Widmann-playlist.
We are very proud to have presented the following festival composers:
James MacMillan (1999)
Jon Balke (2001) (also commissioned work)
Luciano Berio (2002)
Steve Reich (2003)
Sofia Gubaidulina (2004) (also commissioned work)
Thomas Adès (2005)
Magnus Lindberg (2006)
George Crumb (2007)
Rolf Wallin (2008)
Osvaldo Golijov (2009)
HK Gruber (2010)
Brett Dean (2011)
Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (2012)
Lera Auerbach (2013)
Kaija Saariaho (2014)
Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (2015)
Bent Sørensen (2016)
Sally Beamish (2017)
Michel van der Aa (2018)
Lasse Thoresen (2019)
Mark Simpson (2020)
Caroline Shaw (2021)
Olga Neuwirth (2022)
Valentin Silvestrov (2023)
Jessie Montgomery (2024)
Photo: Jörg Widmann by M. Borggreve