Biography | Repertoire | Recordings | Press
Magnus Martensson is Music Director of The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York, an orchestra he co-founded in 2002. Between 1997 and 2006 he conducted the Slee Sinfonietta while also serving as a Visiting Professor/Conductor at SUNY Buffalo.
In the past few seasons Martensson has conducted the New York New Music Ensemble, the Trondheim Soloists (Norway), Musica Vitae (Sweden), ICE (New York) and at the Monday Evening Concert Series (Los Angeles), The Manhattan School of Music, and Teatro San Martin (Buenos Aires).
In 1989, Mr.Martensson made his operatic debut in Malmö, Sweden, conducting a production of Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld , and has subsequently conducted productions of Mozart’s The Magic Flute , Puccini’s Tosca , among others. He has premiered over 70 new works and conducted several world premiere recordings, including orchestral music by David Felder and Jeffrey Stadelman.
As a composer, Mr.Martensson has been featured at festivals including the June in Buffalo and the Mid-American Contemporary Arts Festivals. His one act opera Before the Law , based on Kafka’s work, was premiered in Buffalo in 1997. Among his other works are Sonata for Two Violins, Two Poems of E.E.Cummings, OGNAT Quartet, and Kvasir for Strings, performed most recently at Carnegie Hall in New York.
Mr.Martensson began his musical training in his hometown Malmö, studying piano, viola, voice, guitar, and conducting. He completed his conducting studies at The Cleveland Institute of Music, where he received the Darius Milhaud Award for outstanding musicianship.
Mr.Martensson has recorded for the Mode, Centaur, and Mindfeel record labels
Jonathan Harvey
Repertoire
| H. Alfven Swedish Rhapsody No.1 J.S. Bach/A.Webern Ricercare from A Musical Offering B. Bartok
Divertimento L. Berio H. Berlioz E. Bloch A. Borodin J. Brahms L. van Beethoven M. Bononcini E. Carter E. Chausson F. Chopin J. Corigliano A. Copland A. Corelli B. Crusell I. Dahl M. Daugherty C. Debussy F. Donatoni T. Dubois A. Dvorak E. Elgar P. Elwood G. Faure R. Febel D. Felder J. Fernström L. Foss R. Fueting leaving without/palimpsest 2 G. Gabrieli E. Grieg N.W. Gade P. Glass J. Golove S. Gubaijdulina C-A Hall H. Hanson J. Harbison J. Harvey E. Harnass J. Haydn J. Hummel G.F. Händel C. Ives L. Janacek M. Kagel F. Kaufman O. Knussen G. Kurtag A. Liadov G. Ligeti B. Linde W. Lutoslawsi |
G. MahlerLieder eines fahrenden Gesellen Symphony No.4 Das Lied von der Erde
P. Manoury M. Mårtensson R. Martinsson K. McFaul F. Mendelssohn O. Messiaen W.A. Mozart T. Murail M. Mussorgsky C. Nielsen P. Nörgård J. Offenbach E. Ona K. Penderecki S. Prokofiev G. Puccini A. Pärt B. Rands T. Rangström M. Ravel A. Read-Thomas S. Revueltas R. Reynolds H. Rosenberg G. Rossini C. Rouse J. Ryan C. Saint-Saens A. Sallinen E. Satie/Debussy A. Scarlatti A. Schnittke A. Schönberg D. Shostakovich F. Schubert L. Segerstam J. Sibelius H. Smith J. Stadelman R. Steiger R. Strauss I. Stravinsky J. Svendsen V. Thompson E. Varese N. Vigeland A. Vivaldi R. Wagner A. Webern K. Weill D. Wiren C. Wourinen F. Zappa |
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Slee Sinfonietta
RECORDINGS
Roger Reynolds Angel of Death - Slee Sinfonietta/Magnus Martensson, Marilyn Nonken – Piano (2009, Mode Records)
JEFFREY STADELMAN – Slee Sinfonietta/Magnus Martensson, Movses Pogossian – Violin
Kinderszenen, Starry Wisdom, Pity Paid (2008, Centaur Records)
For more info: http://www.centaurrecords.com/
DAVID FELDER
Six Poems from Neruda’s, Alturas …
June in Buffalo Festival Orchestra
Magnus Martensson, conductor
World premiere recording of works for orchestra by David Felder. (1998, Mode Records)
For more info: http://www.moderecords.com/catalog/089felder.html
FREDERICK CHOPIN
Chopin’s f-minor Piano Concerto, arranged for string orchestra by Magnus Martensson. (2003, Mindfeel Records)
Shan-shan Sun, piano
Musica Vitae
Magnus Martensson, conductor
For more info: http://www.shanshansun.com/html/recordings.html
FERNSTRÖM, SVENDSEN
The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York. (2004, Mindfeel Records)
Magnus Martensson, conductor
For more info: http://www.toccata.nu/cd-label/mindfeel/mfcd004.html
BABBITT, FELDER, etc. Metalofonico! Magnus Martensson, conductor, and many more. For more info:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/metalofonico
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PRESS
“… a conductor who possesses both the technique and intelligence to produce high quality performances.”
The Buffalo News
“A good gauge of what Magnus Martensson has achieved was apparent in the clarity with which the strings projected the complex but gossamer textures and the plaintive ambience of Elliot Carter’s Elegy for String Orchestra …the performance had coherence and a remarkable sense of assurance.”
The Buffalo News
“Vibrant”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Performances are astonishing” (D. Felder – Six Poems ..)
American Record Guide
“Constellations by Per Nörgård ended the program….Magnus Martensson led his fine instrumentalists (The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra) in a clear, clean reading”
Norway Times
Lukas Foss
All B/W photos on this page by Irene Haupt www.photo-irene.com
