Henrik Denerin

Henrik Denerin (1978) is enjoying a successful career and is internationally active, primarily as a composer but also as improvising performer. As a composer he has collaborated with many leading performers and ensembles and has an array of forthcoming commission including a piece for Ensemble Recherche to be performed at Mixtur Festival, Barcelona, a new work for Ensemble Aleph for the 2015/2016 (monade) season at Théâtre de l'Aquarium, Paris. Henrik has also been commissioned to write a work for flute solo to Japanese flutist Kazuko Ihara (supported by Swedish Arts Grants Committee and Leomakko Corporation) to be premiered in Tokyo in August 2015. Since 2014 Henrik, together with swizz cellist Moritz Müllenbach and Australian/Swedish visual artist Thomas Marcusson is collaborating on a 1 hour work for ‘cello, electronics and visual performance (supported by Swedish Arts Grants Committee and Australian Music Centre) to be premiered in Sydney in 2016 with consecutive performances in Melbourne, Auckland, Zürich, Malmö, Göteborg (… ). Some “movements” from this extensive piece has already been premiered as “solo pieces”, for instance breathing, for cello, premiered in Darmstadt 2014 and Astrocyte, electronic music, to be premiered in Porto 2015.
Recent years also saw the premieres of Rhizom, for ensemble (fl, sopr. sax, pno, perc. and ‘cello), performed by Vertixe Sonora ensemble as part of the Vertixe Vigo Festival 2014, breathing, for ‘cello solo, premiered in Darmstadt 2014 by Alice Purton, Wir Kinder der Hölle, for ensemble (Thomas Rabaud – Saxophon, Matthew Barbier – Trombone, Nicoletta Favari – Piano, Esther Saladin – Cello, Otto Willberg), also premiered in Darmstadt 2014 under the baton of Marcus Weiss, Decorated Zither, for male choir, premiered at the ISCM festival in Wroclaw, Poland 2014 and Unhörbares hörbar machen – part I for orchestra, commissioned by Ann-Sophie Mutter foundation for Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. Henrik was also Laurate at the 7th International Forum for Young Composers with Ensemble Aleph in 2014 which gave him the opportunity to work extensively on the work Das Ende eines Wintermärchens with the ensemble as well as doing a high quality recording of the work and publishing a interview made by musicologist Makis Solomos (Professor of musicology at the University Paris 8 (Music Department and Laboratory Esthétique, musicology, danse et creation musicale) and honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France,) in the “Carnet de bord”. Henrik has continuously worked closely with the ensemble ever since.
Over the years, Henrik’s music has been performed by ensembles, orchestras and musicians such as Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble Aleph, Vertixe Sonora Ensemble, Ensemble Hakata, Bit20 Ensemble, Florentin Ginot, Alessandra Rombola, Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Moritz Müllenbach, Uppsala Sinfonietta, Kazuko Ihara, The Six Tones, Nuriá Andorrá, Stefan Östersjö, Markus Falkbring, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, Musica Vitae String Orchestra, Karen Heath, Alice Purton, Markus Weiss, Wroc?awscy Kamerali?ci, Mirka Viitala, Jonas Losciale, Davide Milone , Antonia Valente. His music has been broadcast on Sveriges Radio P2 (Swedish National Radio), RAI Radiotre, ABC (Australia), SWR, HR, Radio France, Swiss SRF 2 Kultur, YLE (Finland), Brazilian and Siberian radio. In middle 2015 a 2 hour special on his music will be broadcasted on Canadian radio. He has been performed at festivals such as Mixtur Festival, ISCM, Nordic Music days, Donauechingen, Darmstadt, Stresa Festival, Vertixe Vigo Festival, Sound around festival, Sommartonar Festival, Festival d’Aujourd’hui à Demain, ISCM, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Musiktage Ligerz and others.
Henrik also works with electronic music, both as fixed media and live electronics. Works include Unhörbares hörbar machen, Part II, commissioned by Studio Klang and premiered in Tokyo 2013, Rotation – Shadows premiered in Malmö, Stadium for clarinet and electronic music commissioned by Karen Heath and a structured improvisation for Vietnamese ensemble (dan tranh, dan bau, dan ty ba) and live-electronics commissioned by The Six Tone for a Nordic tour 2009.
Henrik Denerin was born in Sweden in 1978. His education includes a bachelor and a master degree in Composition with prof. Luca Francesconi, prof. Rolf Martinsson, Staffan Storm and Kent Olofsson at Malmö Academy of Music as well as studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen and workshops with Brian Ferneyhough, Mathias Sphalinger, Per Nørgård, Bent Sørensen and musicologist Richard Toop among others and participation in Donaueschinger Musiktage in the student program “next generation”. Aside of composition, he has also studied Mathematical Philosophy at Ludwig-Maximilians Universität in München and the Chinese language and philosophy and has a big interest in modern philosophy and languages in general. This aspect also shows in the musical output which has always been concerned with philosophical questions especially from a phenomenological viewpoint. In more recent compositions he has taken on a more and more rhizomatic way of dealing with structures and developed a personal “abstract storytelling”. Henrik Denerin has received many grants and awards, e.g. Swedish Arts Grants Working grant (2014 & 2011) Swedish Arts Grants International exchange (2013) FST composer grant (2012 & 2013) The Royal Swedish Academy of Music International Grant (2010) STIM (Swedish Performing Rights Society) grant (2009) Lund University grant (2006) and others.
Henrik is a member of FST (Society of Swedish Composers) since 2011, member of the Swedish section of ISCM and a voting member of STIM (Swedish Performing Rights Society).