Shortly after receiving his diploma in composition the composer Jörgen Dafgård in 2000 was awarded first prize in a composition competition sponsored by the Swedish Radio and the Berwald Hall for his contribution Veils for orchestra. Within a year Veils was performed at altogether four well-attended concerts, first by the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and then by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. The first performance was broadcast in many countries around the world.
In 2003 several millions of radio-listeners could hear Veils broadcast by the British Classic FM and the American NPR when Veils among a thousand contributions reached the top ten in the world’s allegedly leading composition competition Masterprize. Veils was last performed at two concerts in May 2008 by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Sakari Oramo.
In October 2004 the well-known musician Christian Lindberg conducted the Nordic Chamber Orchestra in the first performance of Jörgen Dafgård’s Sinfonia No 1 – a virtuously written symphony in four continuous but contrasting movements. A month later the string orchestra Musica Vitae toured the south of Sweden with a program starting with Dafgård’s newly written Volo – a piece that is rhythmic in a both playful and wild way. Next, a performance of Veils in January 2005 marked the beginning of a cooperation with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra which will continue in February 2010 with the first performance of the commission Through Fire and Water for large orchestra under the direction of Daniel Raiskin.
Jörgen Dafgård works as a free-lance composer. In 1999 he received his diploma in composition at the Malmö Academy of Music, where he had studied for Hans Gefors, Javier Alvarez, Hans Abrahamsen and Kent Olofsson, among others. Previously he had studied composition for Anders Nilsson and Johan Hammerth and taken a bachelor of arts in musicology. Dafgård has written seven orchestral works, some choral works and many chamber works. Two of Dafgård’s works have been recorded on CD: Sleeping – Dream Sonata for Viola and Tape, performed by Henrik Frendin and String Quartet I, performed by the Aniara Quartet. Veils, Through Fire and Water, Sinfonia No 1 and the choir piece My Garden – Like the Beach are published by Gehrmans. Volo is published by Edition Suecia.
Selected works:
- My Garden - Like the Beach
- Sinfonia No. 1
- Veils
For more information: http://www.jorgendafgard.com
