John Fernström (6 December 1897 – 19 October 1961) was a Swedish composer. He was the founder of the Nordic Youth Orchestra.

Early life and education

Fernström was born in

Yichang Yichang ( zh, s= ), Postal Map Romanization, alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. Yichang had a population of 3.92 million people at the 2022 census, making it the third most pop ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, where he also spent most part of the first ten years of his life at the mission his father directed, except for a couple of years in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. He resided permanently in the Swedish province of

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

from 1907 and started to study the violin at the conservatory in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Career

He was with the symphony orchestra of

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

from 1916 until 1932, with some interruptions for studies; first as a

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

ist, later as one of its leading conductors. From 1941 he conducted the Lund Women's Student Choir at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

and took part in restructuring it, in 1948, into a mixed ensemble named Lund Academic Choir ( Lunds akademiska kör). Later the same year Fernström left the choir when he was appointed director of the municipal music school in the city of

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

. In 1951 he founded the Nordic Youth Orchestra, which still today is an almost compulsory step for all young Scandinavian musicians on their way to become professional musicians. In 1953, he was elected member of the

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

Death and legacy

Fernström died in Lund. He had written twelve symphonies, eight string quartets, many other chamber music pieces, concertos (among which two violin concertos, a bassoon concerto and a clarinet concerto), two operas (''Echnaton'' and ''Isissystrarnas bröllop''), and a large number of songs and choral pieces.

References

External links

Home page for John Fernström
1897 births 1961 deaths 20th-century Swedish classical composers 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians Musicians from Skåne County People from Yichang Swedish male classical composers Swedish conductors (music) Swedish expatriates in China {{Sweden-composer-stub