Eskil Hemberg (1938–2004) was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

composer and conductor. He held positions including CEO and artistic director of the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera ( sv, Kungliga Operan) is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the center of Sweden's capital Stockholm in the borough of Norrmalm, on the eastern side ...

in Stockholm, as well as president of the

International Federation for Choral Music International Federation for Choral Music (IFCM) is an international association founded in 1982 to facilitate communication and exchange between choral musicians throughout the world. IFCM has around 900 members from all continents. The members ...

Life and career

Hemberg studied at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

in Stockholm where he received a Music Teacher's degree in 1961, a higher cantor's degree in 1961, and a higher organist's degree in 1964. Together with

Herbert Blomstedt Herbert Thorson Blomstedt (; born 11 July 1927) is a Swedish conductor. Herbert Blomstedt was born in Massachusetts. Two years after his birth, his Swedish parents moved the family back to their country of origin. He studied at the Stockholm Ro ...

he also conducted the orchestra at the Royal College of Music during this period. Hemberg became an executive producer for the

Swedish Radio Sveriges Radio AB (, "Sweden's Radio") is Sweden's national publicly funded radio broadcaster. Sveriges Radio is a public limited company, owned by an independent foundation, previously funded through a licensing fee, the level of which is ...

's choir, from 1963 until 1970. From 1970 to 1983 he was the planning manager and director of foreign relation at the National Institute of Concerts, and from 1984 to 1987 the general manager and artistic director of the

Gothenburg Opera The Gothenburg opera house ( sv, Göteborgsoperan) is an opera house at Lilla Bommen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The Artistic Director for opera is Henning Ruhe since 2019, while Katrín Hall leads the ballet and dance company. History The Gothenbur ...

. During this period, he was also the director of the Stockholm University Chorus (1959–84).In 1968-78 Hemberg wrote ''Messa d'oggi'' , a choral piece with texts by

Quasimodo Quasimodo (from Quasimodo Sunday) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the novel ''The Hunchback of Notre-Dame'' (1831) by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster, but h ...

and

Dag Hammarskjöld Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld ( , ; 29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961) was a Swedish economist and diplomat who served as the second Secretary-General of the United Nations from April 1953 until his death in a plane crash in September 196 ...

. Furthermore, in 1970 he wrote a choreographic choral suite, which Hemberg described as "an opera in four acts" based on poems by

Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...

. Hemberg served as general manager and artistic director of the

from 1987 until 1996. During his time he put up many notable performances including Ingmar Bergman directing ''

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; grc-gre, Βάκχαι, ''Bakchai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. ...

'' by

Daniel Börtz Daniel Börtz (born 8 August 1943) is a Swedish composer, born in Hässleholm. He studied composition under Hilding Rosenberg, Karl-Birger Blomdahl and Ingvar Lidholm. Among his works are the operas ''Bacchanterna'' (1991), ''Marie Antoinette'' ...

, in 1991. Hemberg was a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music since 1974, the chairman of the Swedish Society of Composers from 1971 until 1983, Vice President of

STIM STIM, ''Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå'' (Swedish Performing Rights Society), is a Swedish collecting society for songwriters, composers and music publisher A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distribu ...

, as well as a board member from 1972 to 1983. He was the president of the

International Music Council The International Music Council (IMC) was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, where it functions as an independent international non-governmental organization. Its p ...

of UNESCO, as well as chairman of the

(IFCM), and in 2000 he was made The Bud Pearsson Distinguished Professor in Swedish Studies at the Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas, USA.

Awards

* 1974 – Member nr. 789 of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music * 1974 – Musical Society in Stockholm, stipend * 1978 – Norrby Medal * 1998 – Atterberg Prize * 1997 – Culture stipend and prize from The Swedish–Finnish Cultural Foundation

Selected works

* "Psalm" (1999) * "Anthem" (1998) * "Thou Who Art Over Us" (1992) * "Psalmus XCVI" (1992) * "Concerning My Negotiations With Myself and With God" (1980) * "Messa d'oggi" (1972) * "Symptoms of Love" (1970–1972) * "Signposts" (1968) * "Zoo" (1962/1965)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hemberg, Eskil Swedish classical composers Royal College of Music, Stockholm alumni 1938 births 2004 deaths