Martin Fröst

Swedish clarinetist and conductor Martin Fröst began musical studies at age five with violin lessons, but he took up the clarinet at eight. He was a student of Hans Deinzer, Sölve Kingstedt, and Kjell-Inge Stevensson. Fröst has performed with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Philharmonia Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, among other orchestras. Fröst has created thematically based projects, such as "Genesis" and "Exodus," which explore music derived from folk song, ritual, and dance, and worked with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta in these performances. Fröst has served as artist-in-residence for the Netherlands Philharmonic, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the Gothenburg Symphony. He is also an avid chamber musician, and has given recitals with Janine Jansen, Yuja Wang, Leif Ove Andsnes, Roland Pöntinen, Sol Gabetta, and Antoine Tamestit, among others. He has been an enthusiastic promoter of new music, and has worked with several composers, including Anders Hillborg, Krzysztof Penderecki, Kalevi Aho, Rolf Martinsson, Bent Sørensen, Victoria Borisova-Ollas, Karin Rehnqvist, and Sven-David Sandström. Fröst was the director of the Vinterfest Music Festival in Sweden for ten seasons, and served in that capacity until 2015. He was named the principal conductor of the Swedish Chamber Orchestra, beginning with the 2019-2020 season. Fröst's recordings have appeared on BIS and Sony Classical. ~ Blair Sanderson