I leave the year 2019 with a great feeling of gratitude and thankfulness. During this year I’ve worked on several big projects. Some of them just getting started and some of them completed. Lux Mundi (The Light of the World) was an exciting joint commission by the English Baroque Choir & London Nordic Choir. I delivered the piece (3 movements; Faith, Hope & Love)in the beginning of September and the world premier will happen on May 16th in London. I also delivered five different organ pieces. “Fanfare on St Paul” was commissioned by the Cathedral organist of Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim and premiered at St Paul’s Cathedral in London in September. A “Ragtime” premiered by Dewi Rees at Jesus College, Cambridge. A “Waltz” for the Dutch concert organist Aart Bergwerff and finally two major pieces commissioned by the American concert organist James D Hicks. One is a brand new “Prelude, Aria & Fugue” and one is a revision of an early piece: Triptyche. Both to be premiered next fall, 2020, in Norway and in USA. I also have had the privilege to work on two Oratorios. I signed up for a big St Matthew Passion for soli chorus and orchestra at Helsingborg’s Maria Church. It’s a huge piece and I have managed to complete a set of 13 Psalms (from the Bible) orchestrated for mixed choir, harp and percussion which will be interleaved in the work in the same way that chorales are in a Lutheran passion. During 2020 I will start to work on the passion story itself. Otherwise has my main focus been on a Stabat Mater, commissioned by The University of South Carolina Aiken and their assistant professor, Joel Scraper. An oratorio for 2 soloists (Soprano & Tenor), mixed choir, Woodwind quintet, Harp & Strings. It consists of 18 separate movements and about 50 minutes in duration. The World premiere is planned to happen in September and I will deliver the full score before January 15th. During 2019 I also started a new collaboration with Norsk Musikforlag and have already published three editions although we just begun 3 months ago. In February I received an honorable Prize, The Norwegian Publisher’s Prize. In May I was in San Francisco to participate in the world premiere of the commission “Ascension” for Male Chorus a cappella, performed by The Golden gate Men’s Chorus. In May there was a world premier of an organ version of my beloved Requiem in Stockholm followed by two performances in Germany in July. This version will soon be out in January on Gehrmans. Besides all these intense work I have been fortunate to experience a lot of other things around my music as recordings & concerts. I feel so blessed and I look so much forward into what will develop during 2020. I wish you all a Happy New Year!
