BIOGRAPHY

Before morphing into a piano playing comedian, Magnus Martensson was conductor of The Scandinavian Chamber Orchestra of New York, and the Slee Sinfonietta.

In past seasons, Martensson has guest conducted with the New York New Music Ensemble, the Trondheim Soloists, Musica Vitae, ICE, the Monday Evening Concert Series, Los Angeles, Manhattan School of Music, Buenos Aires Teatro San Martin; collaborating with Elmar Oliveira, the Weilerstein Trio, Ursula Oppens, Anton Kontra, Movses Pogossian, Varty Manouelian, Tony Arnold, Viviane Hagner, Marilyn Nonken, Ian Pace, among others.

Martensson made his operatic debut in Malmö, Sweden, conducting Offenbach’s Orpheus in the Underworld, and has subsequently conducted operas by Mozart, Puccini, Golove.  He has conducted world premiere recordings, including orchestral music by Jeffrey Stadelman, Roger Reynolds, and David Felder.

As a composer, Martensson has been featured at festivals including the June in Buffalo and the Mid-American Contemporary Arts Festivals. His one act opera Before the Law, based on Kafka’s work, was premiered in Buffalo in 1997. Among his other works are Sonata for Two Violins, Two Poems of E.E.Cummings, OGNAT Quartet, Mar Del for violin and piano, and Kvasir for Strings, performed most recently at Carnegie Hall in New York.