Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen
Encyclopedia
Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen is a Copenhagen
-based, Danish
chamber ensemble specializing in the performance of modern compositions. It was founded in 1990 and is highly esteemed for the high quality of its work. Anders Beyer has been Artistic Director of the ensemble since 2004 while Pierre-André Valade is Chief Conductor.
The ensemble takes its name from J. R. R. Tolkien
's fiktive Middle-earth
plant Athelas, a herb with healing powers twice used by Aragorn
to save Frodo
in the Lord of the Rings.
, Giordano Bellincampi
was chief conductor.
In 2000 it was appointed as National ensemble, a status followed by considerable extra subsidies from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs
. In 2001 the ensemble collaborated with Thomas Sandberg
and the composer Anders Nordentoft on the experimental opera performance On the Planet.
2003 saw crisis when it lost its status due to ministerial budget cuts, and the subsidies dwindled to one third of previous levels, while most f the leadership retired. Anders Beyer was appointed as new artistic director of the ensemble. He introduced several initiatives to make the ensemble more visible and establish new collaborations.
In 2008 Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen collaborated with Danish Dance Theatre
on the installation Labyrint created by Tim Rushton
.
On 4 May 2009, joined for the occasion by the singer Misen Groth, the ensemble performed Jacob Groth
score for the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009 film) in Cannes
as the official opening concert of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
.
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
-based, Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
chamber ensemble specializing in the performance of modern compositions. It was founded in 1990 and is highly esteemed for the high quality of its work. Anders Beyer has been Artistic Director of the ensemble since 2004 while Pierre-André Valade is Chief Conductor.
The ensemble takes its name from J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's fiktive Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....
plant Athelas, a herb with healing powers twice used by Aragorn
Aragorn
Aragorn II is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, one of the main protagonists of The Lord of the Rings. He is first introduced by the name Strider, which the hobbits continue to call him...
to save Frodo
Frodo Baggins
Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium.He is the main protagonist of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He was a hobbit of the Shire who inherited Sauron's Ring from Bilbo Baggins and undertook the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom...
in the Lord of the Rings.
History
Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen was founded in 1990 by two composers and a conductor out of frustration that no existing orchestras took an interest in performing new compositions. From 1997–2000, when he set off to lead the Copenhagen PhilharmonicCopenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra
The Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra , also known as the Tivoli Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra which both serves as Danish Regional Orchestra for the island of Zealand and, for the summer season while the Tivoli Gardens are open, as resident orchestra in the Tivoli Concert...
, Giordano Bellincampi
Giordano Bellincampi
Giordano Bellincampi is an Italian-born Danish conductor and trombonist. He is currently the music director of the Jutland Opera. Previous positions have included chief conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra.-Early life and education:...
was chief conductor.
In 2000 it was appointed as National ensemble, a status followed by considerable extra subsidies from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs
Ministry of Culture of Denmark
The Ministry of Culture of Denmark is a department of the Danish Government, with responsibility for culture, sport and media.-History:...
. In 2001 the ensemble collaborated with Thomas Sandberg
Thomas Sandberg
Thomas Sandberg is a Danish composer.-References:***...
and the composer Anders Nordentoft on the experimental opera performance On the Planet.
2003 saw crisis when it lost its status due to ministerial budget cuts, and the subsidies dwindled to one third of previous levels, while most f the leadership retired. Anders Beyer was appointed as new artistic director of the ensemble. He introduced several initiatives to make the ensemble more visible and establish new collaborations.
In 2008 Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen collaborated with Danish Dance Theatre
Danish Dance Theatre
Danish Dance Theatre is the largest modern dance company in Denmark. The company was founded in 1981 by Randi Patterson, an English/Norwegian choreographer and innovator of modern dance. Patterson was succeeded by American Warren Spears and the Dane Anette Abildgaard...
on the installation Labyrint created by Tim Rushton
Tim Rushton
Timothy John Rushton MBE is a British choreographer and artistic leader of the Copenhagen-based Danish Dance Theatre, Denmark's largest modern dance company....
.
On 4 May 2009, joined for the occasion by the singer Misen Groth, the ensemble performed Jacob Groth
Jacob Groth
Jacob Groth is a Danish film composer. He is noted for his work with Søren Kragh-Jacobsen. He composed the music for the Millennium Trilogy films...
score for the film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009 film) in Cannes
Cannes
Cannes is one of the best-known cities of the French Riviera, a busy tourist destination and host of the annual Cannes Film Festival. It is a Commune of France in the Alpes-Maritimes department....
as the official opening concert of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
2009 Cannes Film Festival
The 62nd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 13 to May 24, 2009. French actress Isabelle Huppert was the President of the Jury. It was announced on March 19, 2009, that Pixar's film Up would open the festival...
.
Current members
- Andras Olsen – tromboneTromboneThe trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
, - Abdreas Fosdal – OboeOboeThe oboe is a double reed musical instrument of the woodwind family. In English, prior to 1770, the instrument was called "hautbois" , "hoboy", or "French hoboy". The spelling "oboe" was adopted into English ca...
- Anna Klett – ClarinetClarinetThe clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
- Anne Marie Fjord – pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
- Axel Ruge — Double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
- Ida Lorenzen – ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Ida Speyer Grøn – ViolaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
- Karen Skriver Zargabis – FluteFluteThe flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
- Karl Husum – trumpetTrumpetThe trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...
- Kirstine Futtrup – ViolinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
- Maria Boelskov Sørensen – HarpHarpThe harp is a multi-stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicularly to the soundboard. Organologically, it is in the general category of chordophones and has its own sub category . All harps have a neck, resonator and strings...
- Mathias Friis-Hansen – PercussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
- Signe Haugland – BassoonBassoonThe bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
- Thomas Ekman – HornHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
- Toke Møldrup – CelloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...