Bent Sørensen

Bent Sørensen, born 1958, studied composition from 1983 to 1987 with I. Nørholm at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. He continued his studies from 1988 to 1990 in P. Nørgård’s composition class at the Jutland Music Academy in Aarhus. His early works are characterized by an immediate, folkloristic tone, but from the string quartet Alman (1983-84) onward his music has changed to being more expressive and dynamic. Important recent works include: the piano concerto la Notte, The Wings of Night for trombone and string quartet, Sinful Songs, This Night of No Moon, a sinfonietta work and Sørensen’s first opera, Under The Sky (libretto by Peter Asmussen). He is working on a suite from Under The Sky - entitled Intermezzi - as well as a new work based on H.C. Andersen’s fairytales to be premiered in 2005. He received the distinguished Nordic Council Music Prize in 1996 and was appointed Honorary Composer in Association by the Esbjerg Ensemble in 1998. In 2002 he was appointed professor of composition at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen.