Per-Olov Kindgren (born June 10, 1956, in Bogotá, Colombia) is a Swedish classical guitarist, composer and

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as primary education, elementary or secondary education, secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a res ...

known for his classical guitar playing, ranging from

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

Biography

Early life

Kindgren was born in Bogotá, Colombia, to 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 ...

father and a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

mother. Kindgren's father, Owe, an engineer, worked for the Colombian branch of LM Ericsson installing telephone stations. The family returned to Stockholm when Kindgren was three years old. He lived there from 1960 till 1970. At the age of six, Kindgren was fascinated by a bright red electric guitar in a shop window. The Beatles became his heroes, and he especially admired

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

. His parents gave him a classical guitar for his seventh birthday. In 1970 he saw a documentary about John Williams broadcast on Danish national television, and from that day on, he knew what he wanted to become. When Kindgren was 14 years old, his family moved to the border town of

Helsingør Helsingør ( , ; sv, Helsingör), classically known in English as Elsinore ( ), is a city in eastern Denmark. Helsingør Municipality had a population of 62,686 on 1 January 2018. Helsingør and Helsingborg in Sweden together form the northe ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

. There he was able to attend a Swedish high school in

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , , ) is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and ninth-largest in Sweden, with a population of 113,816 (2020). Helsingborg is the cent ...

, where he met his first classical guitar teacher, Torvald Nilsson.

Professional life

In 1976 Kindgren began to study at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

, where he moved during his studies and where he lives and works today. He studied there for 7 years with professor Per-Olof Johnson until his graduation in 1983. While continuing his studies, he became a music teacher, teaching at music schools in Vallensbæk and

Gentofte Gentofte () is a district of Gentofte Municipality in the northern suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. Major landmarks include Gentofte Town Hall, Gentofte Hospital and Gentofte Church. Gentofte Lake with surrounding parkland and nature reserves form ...

for 24 years. Presently Kindgren works as a music teacher at the music school in Gentofte, which provides him with a steady living in addition to the concerts he performs. In 1979 he joined three other guitarists, Steffen Broe Christensen, Dag Egil Berge and Torsten Borbye Nielsen, and formed the Nordic Guitar Quartet, which performed more than 400 concerts throughout its existence and also recorded an album called: Images .. with arrangements to A.Vivaldi, M. Ravel, and JS Bach from TB Nielsen. Kindgren composes pieces for

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guitar, as well as for

duets A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers. Duets or The Duets may also refer to: Films and television * ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis * "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episo ...

, trios, quartets, and up to

septet A septet is a formation containing exactly seven members. It is commonly associated with musical groups but can be applied to any situation where seven similar or related objects are considered a single unit, such as a seven-line stanza of poetry. ...

s and octets for guitar. In 1998 he composed pieces for

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

, and a rock band for the 25th anniversary of the Vallensbæk music school; in 2000 he composed a Christmas

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is ...

for organ,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

, flutes, choir and

narrator Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to convey a story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deliver information to the ...

. In 2009, the great French guitarist and composer Jean-Marie Raymond wrote for him a beautiful piece, titled "As Always."."As always"

Musical style

Kindgren's style is mainly classical, with influences from

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

, blues, and

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

. In addition to his classical repertoire, Kindgren also plays works of The Beatles and Metallica. Kindgren likes to describe his own compositions as songs without words.

Gear

Instrument

For many years Kindgren played a classical guitar built by Swiss luthier Philippe Jean-Mairet, which he bought in 1987. A friend of his, Jørgen, had bought a guitar from the Swiss luthier, whom he had met in Bern during his studies, and loved its superb quality. Kindgren asked his friend to order a guitar for him, and nine months later he was able to visit Jean-Mairet in Switzerland to test his new guitar. Previously he owned a Martin Fleeson guitar, which he had bought in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in 1986 for 25,000 DKK (about

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

3,350 or $4,400 at the time). One year later Kindgren bought his Jean-Mairet instrument. In the summer 2006, Kindgren went to guitar builder Per Hallgren in Gråbo, near Gothenburg, in order to have the guitar French polished again. In 2009 he started to play a guitar by Per Hallgren and since then he has played several instruments by the Swedish builder. He also plays a 7-string classical guitar given to him by John and Judy Rogerson.

Guitar Support

In his videos, Kindgren can be seen using a Gitano guitar support on his left lap.

Discography

* 1992 - ''Images'', Nordic Guitar Quartet (Primaveramusic) * 2008 - ''After Silence'' (Villa Luisa Records) * 2010 - ''Distant Love'' * 2011 - ''AIR''

Images: Nordic Guitar Quartet (Primaveramusic)

A. Vivaldi

1. Concerto Grosso Op.3 No.8: Allegro, 2. Concerto Grosso Op.3 No.8: Larghetto e Spirituoso, 3. Concerto Grosso Op.3 No.8: Allegro,

J.S. Bach

4. Orchetral Suite No.1, BWV 1066: Courante. 5. Orchetral Suite No.1, BWV 1066: Gavotte 1 and 2. 6. Orchetral Suite No.1, BWV 1066: Forlane. 7. Orchetral Suite No.1, BWV 1066: Minuet 1 and 2. 8. Orchetral Suite No.1, BWV 1066: Bourrée 1 and 2. 9. Orchetral Suite No.1, BWV 1066: Passepled 1 and 2.

M. Ravel

10. Pavane Pour Une Infante Defunte.

C. Machado

11. Dancas Populares Brasileiras: Ponteio (Agalopado) 12. Dancas Populares Brasileiras: Ciranda (Roda, Roda) 13. Dancas Populares Brasileiras: Catira (Bati Sola) 14. Dancas Populares Brasileiras: Cantiga (Minar) 15. Dancas Populares Brasileiras: Frevo (Isquenta ô pé)

L. Brouwer

16. Cuban Landscape with Rain.

F. Moreno Torroba

17. Estampas: Bailando un Fandango Charro. 18. Estampas: Remanso. 19. Estampas: La Siega. 20. Estampas: Fiesta en el Pueblo. 21. Estampas: Amanecer. 22. Estampas: La Boda. 23. Estampas: Camino del Molino. 24. Estampas: Juegos Infantiles.

References

External links

Per-Olov Kindgren's official site

Per-Olov Kindgren's YouTube Profile

Per-Olov Kindgren's vimeo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kindgren, Per-Olov 1956 births Living people Swedish classical composers Swedish male classical composers Swedish classical guitarists Swedish people of Danish descent