Anne Sofie von Otter – Home for Christmas (SWE)

Bengt Forsberg is one of Sweden’s leading pianists and is particularly esteemed as a recital accompanist. With Anne Sofie von Otter, he has given recital tours across North America, Asia and Europe and together they have made numerous recordings for Deutsche Grammophon including a multi award-winning recital disc of songs by Grieg. For Hyperion he has recorded solo piano music by Schubert, Schumann and late Romantic Swedish composers and his collaboration with Swedish cellist Mats Lidström has resulted in several critically acclaimed albums. Bengt Forsberg has also collaborated with violinists Pekka Kuusisto and Cecilia Zilliacus and cellists Andreas Brantelid and Kati Raitinen. He is renowned for his championing of lesser-known composers including Eric Korngold, Josef Suk, Percy Grainger and Rebecca Clarke.

As a chamber musician Bengt Forsberg has been a guest artist for two consecutive years at the Perth Chamber Music Festival in Australia and appeared in a three-concert showcase at New York’s Alice Tully Hall as Artistic Advisor and performer. He also runs his own Chamber Music Society in Stockholm.

Born in Edsleskog, Sweden, Bengt Forseberg studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Gothenburg, before continuing in London with Peter Feuchtwanger and in Copenhagen with Herman D. Koppel.

Swedish songwriter, producer and guitarist Fabian Fredriksson, born 1991, is a graduate of Musikmakarna, a Swedish producing and song writing school.

Fabian appears as guitarist on the Grammy-award winning CD ‘Douce France’, and on a recording with Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg ‘A Simple Song’ released in 2018.

Fabian enjoys playing with Leif Kaner-Lidström and Anne Sofie von Otter and regularly joins them at performances and festivals including Naantali, Neuhardenberg, and at Teatro Massimo di Palermo.

After graduating at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen under Mogens Ellegaards supervision, his career took a high flight. He toured with Les Ballets C de la B, the international dance company of Alain Platel, performing La Tristeza Complice (1996) and Pitié (2008) throughout Europe, the USA, Brazil and Congo. Philippe Thuriot was invited to play with orchestras like Oxalys, Het Collectief (Reinbert De Leeuw), Il Gardellino, Ictus, De koninklijke muntschouwburg (Patrick Davin), Klangforum Wien, BJO and WDR jazz orchestra. Various composers wrote an accordion concerto especially for Thuriot: Dick Van der Harst, Peter Vermeersch , and Dirk D’ase (in the Wiener Konzerthaus) 

In 2015 he recorded the Goldberg Variations by J.S. Bach for the Warner Classics / Klara label. In 2018 he recorded a second solo disc with own arrangements of music by Couperin and Ravel. Both cd’s were highly praised by the international music press and received favourable reviews. 

He performed at numerous international festivals such as Crete Senesi in Tuscany, in honour of the 70th birthday of Philippe Herreweghe. He also played together, amongst others, with Ellery Eskelin, René Lussier, Uri Caine, Mark Feldman and Maria Schneider, each of them a master in the jazz scene. 

Right now he is working on a few new projects: I Silenti (music by Monteverdi, arranged by Fabrizio Cassol and Tcha Limberger) Besides that, he is also creating two solo-performances: Bach In Time (improvisations on J.S. Bach) and Made in France (from French baroque to French musette). As can clearly be deducted from all stated above, Phillipe is a musical centipede, his interests ranging from jazz and improvisation to classical music.