Guitarist Jakob Bangsø built on an impressive string of competition prizes in forging an international career. His concerts and recordings are marked by a commitment to contemporary music, including works for guitar and electronics. Bangsø was born in the small city of Hjørring in northern Denmark in 1988. He took up the guitar at nine. He attended the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark, studying with Frederik Munk Larsen, and then went on for a master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne, Germany, winning Germany's DAAD Scholarship and studying with Roberto Aussel. The mid-2010s saw Bangsø win a series of competition prizes around Europe, including top prizes at the Berlin International Guitar Competition, the Concours International de Guitar "Ville d'Antony" in Paris, and the Nordhom International Guitar Competition in Germany. In 2015, he earned the Young Elite scholarship from the Danish Arts Council; he was the first guitarist so honored. Bangsø has appeared widely as a concerto soloist, chamber musician, and solo player. He has performed with the Aarhus and Aalborg Symphonies in Denmark, the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra in Estonia, and other ensembles. Bangsø's repertory includes such mainstream works as the Concierto de Aranjuez of Rodrigo, but he is especially noted for his championing of contemporary compositions. He has worked with composer Wayne Siegel on Chaconne, which he premiered with the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra. He also performs concertos by Constantine Caravassilis and John Corigliano, and he has collaborated with composers Tine Surel Lange, Andreja Andric, Klavs Kehlet Hansen, and others on works for guitar and electronics. Guitar-and-electronics works were the subject of Bangsø's first recording, Connect, which appeared on the Dacapo label in 2018. He returned in 2020 with an album on Orchid Classics, devoted to the guitar concertos of Corigliano, Siegel, and Caravassilis. ~ James Manheim