Søren Nils Eichberg (born 23 July 1973) is a German/Danish classical composer and conductor.

Biography

Eichberg was born in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. He studied piano, composition and orchestra conducting in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. He had his first break-through in 2001 when winning the

Queen Elisabeth Competition The Queen Elisabeth Competition (, ) is an international competition for career-starting musicians held in City of Brussels, Brussels. The competition is named after Elisabeth of Bavaria, Queen of Belgium, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium (1876–1 ...

for Composers in Brussels in 2001. Other awards and honours include the

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue and Music festival, festival in the towns of Lenox, Massachusetts, Lenox and Stockbridge, Massachusetts, Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony ...

fellowship, the German Konrad-Adenauer Composition Grant and the Composition Stipend of the

Danish Arts Foundation The Danish Arts Foundation ( Danish: Statens Kunstfond) is the principal Danish government funded arts foundation founded by a special Law on 27 May 1964. Statens Kunstfond alongside the :da:Statens Kunstråd (English sometimes State Arts Council ...

. In 2010 he was announced as the first composer-in-residence of the

Danish National Symphony Orchestra The Danish National Symphony Orchestra (DNSO; ), is a Danish orchestra based in Copenhagen. The DNSO is the principal orchestra of DR (Danish Broadcasting Corporation). The DRSO is based at the Koncerthuset () concert hall in Copenhagen. Histo ...

in the orchestra's history, which led to a close collaboration with the orchestra over a period of five years and to premieres and recordings of several large-scale works. His symphonic work was in 2017 shortlisted for the

German Music Authors' Prize The German Music Authors' Prize () is a German music prize that has been awarded since 2009 by German collective rights association GEMA. It is awarded to composers and lyricists for their outstanding achievements. Under the motto "Authors honor a ...

Hilary Hahn Hilary Hahn (born November 27, 1979) is an American violinist. A three-time Grammy Award winner, she has performed throughout the world as a soloist with leading orchestras and conductors, and as a recitalist. She is an avid supporter of contemp ...

recorded his composition ''Levitation'' for her

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

album ''In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores'', which was awarded a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

in 2014. His works include three symphonies, several concertos, five operas and solo- and chamber music and are published by

Universal Edition Universal Edition (UE) is an Austrian classical music publishing firm. Founded in 1901 in Vienna, it originally intended to provide the core classical works and educational works to the Austrian market. The firm soon expanded to become one of t ...

and Edition Wilhelm Hansen (

Wise Music Group Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...

). He collaborates with

Ensemble Modern Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of contemporary composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countri ...

Mahler Chamber Orchestra The Mahler Chamber Orchestra is a professional touring chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado and former members of the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra in 1997. The MCO appears throughout the year in about 60–70 concerts and performances. It ...

and several radio orchestras across Europe. As a conductor he has worked with

Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie The Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie (North West German Philharmonic) is a German symphony orchestra based in Herford. Founded in 1950, the orchestra is one of the ''Landesorchester'' of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, along with the ''Philhar ...

, Hofer Symphoniker, Preussisches Kammerorchester, Berliner Symphoniker, Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop, Österreichisches Ensemble für Neue Musik and members of the Munich and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. Eichberg has taught and given lectures at

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

Royal Conservatory of Brussels The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (, ) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Providing performing music and drama courses, the institution became renowned par ...

Royal Danish Academy of Music The Royal Danish Academy of Music, or Royal Danish Conservatory of Music (), in Copenhagen is the oldest professional institution of musical education in Denmark as well as the largest, with approximately 400 students. It was established in 186 ...

, SRH Berlin School of Popular Arts and

Yaşar University Yaşar University ( Turkish: ''Yaşar Üniversitesi'') is a university in İzmir, Turkey on the Aegean Sea. The university faculty teaches in English, with programs at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. History Selcuk Yaşar Sport ...

. He is chairman of the Danish Council for Music Stipends and Grants under the

Operas

Eichberg's chamber opera ''Glare'', with libretto by

Hannah Dübgen Hannah or Hanna may refer to: People, biblical figures, and fictional characters * Hannah (name), a female given name of Hebrew origin * Hanna (Arabic name), a family and a male given name of Christian Arab origin * Hanna (Irish surname) (inclu ...

, was commissioned by

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

and opened in London in November 2014. ''Glare'' is a psycho-drama chamber-play with elements of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, which focuses on the relationships between four protagonists one of who may or may not be an artificial human. It gained attention among

blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...

gers, twitterers and the press with some calling it too violent, while others praised it as the perfect opera for the digital age. Richard Morrison in his review in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' gave it 5 out of 5 stars saying that he couldn't remember a more gripping 75 minutes of avant-garde music-theatre than ''Glare''. The opera has since been staged in Koblenz, the

National Swedish Touring Theatre The National Swedish Touring Theatre () is the largest touring theatre company in Sweden. It serves as Sweden's national stage on tour. The company is owned and funded by 240 local economic associations spread throughout the country. Their mai ...

and at

Opera North Opera North is an English opera company based in Leeds. The company's home theatre is the Leeds Grand Theatre, but it also presents regular seasons in several other cities, at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, the Lowry Centre, Salford Quays a ...

. Eichberg's following opera about the European refugee crisis premiered at

Staatstheater Wiesbaden The Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden (Hessian State Theatre Wiesbaden), also known as the Staatstheater Wiesbaden or Theater Wiesbaden, is a German theatre located in Wiesbaden, in the German state of Hesse. The company produces operas, plays, b ...

in September 2017. In 2019 Theater Koblenz premiered his opera "Wolf unter Wölfen" with libretto by . In 2023, his opera ''

Oryx and Crake ''Oryx and Crake'' is a 2003 novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood. She has described the novel as speculative fiction and adventure romance, rather than pure science fiction, because it does not deal with things "we can't yet do or begin to ...

'', with libretto by after the novel by

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian novelist, poet, literary critic, and an inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of nonfiction, nine collections of short fiction, eight chi ...

, premiered in Wiesbaden. ''Oryx and Crake'' was nominated in the category "World Premiere" at the 2023

International Opera Awards The International Opera Awards is an annual awards ceremony honouring excellence in opera around the world. Origins The International Opera Awards was founded in 2013 by Harry Hyman, a UK businessman, philanthropist and supporter of opera, and ...

References

External links

Eichberg's web-site

Søren Nils Eichberg
biography and works on the Wise Music Classical website (publisher)
Søren Nils Eichberg
biography and works on the UE website (publisher) 1973 births Living people 21st-century classical composers Danish classical composers German male classical composers German classical composers Prize-winners of the Queen Elisabeth Competition 21st-century German composers 21st-century German male musicians {{Germany-composer-stub