Kent Olofsson

Kent Olofsson was born in Karlskrona in 1962. He is mainly associated with chamber music, often written for instruments in combination with electronics. Himself a guitarist the guitar has taken on a central role in many of his works. A notable example is the grandiose Il Liuto d'Orfeo for guitar and tape, a piece specially composed for fellow guitarist Stefan Östersjö. The work took home first prize in the 1999 International Competition for Electroacoustic Music in Bourges, France.

Otherwise of note amongst his series of works centering on certain aspects of sound and technology are the provocative pieces for solo instrument. All works in the series are titled Treccia (lattice-work), which betrays the aesthetic and the compositional methods he probes here. In fact Olofsson has written music in most genres - orchestral, solo concerto, vocal, electro acoustic, rock (he writes for the art rock band Dame Wiggens, with which he is also the guitarist) - and has composed music drama works, music for art exhibitions, and music for dance performances. Tony Lundman, 2003 (translation: Neil Betteridge)

Only a few of my works involve voices. On the other hand, most of them are big works with durations over 40 minutes, and they were all challenging composition tasks. Composing for the voice gives me a lot of ideas, but also demands a development towards new compositional solutions. The pieces have often multi-textural layers, in some cases even multilingual, and there are new approaches to the vocal techniques and traditions in each piece. Almost all of them with electronics and special instrumental ensembles. The Bells, Le miroir caché,  Membra Jesu Nostri and Lamentationes are examples hereof.
 
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