Per Anders Hillborg (born 31 May 1954) is one of

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 ...

’s leading

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Education

Anders Hillborg was born in Sollentuna, and studied composition, counterpoint and electronic music at the Kungliga Musikhögskolan in Stockholm from 1976 to 1982. His teachers were Gunnar Bucht, Lars-Erik Rosell, Arne Mellnäs and Pär Lindgren. An important source of inspiration was

Brian Ferneyhough Brian John Peter Ferneyhough (; born 16 January 1943) is an English composer. Ferneyhough is typically considered the central figure of the New Complexity movement. Ferneyhough has taught composition at the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg and ...

who was a visiting professor at the time.

Career

Apart from some minor teaching positions, professor in composition at Musikhögskolan i Malmö 1990 and masterclasses, Hillborg has been a freelance composer since 1982. His output is vast and covers genres as orchestral, choir, chamber works as well as film and popular music. An example of his work in the popular realm is his collaboration with Eva Dahlgren, which resulted in the album ''Jag vill se min älskade komma från det vilda'' (1995). The project was first presented at the Helsinki Festival with the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by

Esa-Pekka Salonen Esa-Pekka Salonen (; born 30 June 1958) is a Finnish conducting, conductor and composer. He is the music director of the San Francisco Symphony and conductor laureate of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra in London and the Sw ...

. His collaboration with Salonen has resulted in numerous works, among others ''Dreaming River'' (premiered by the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. History The orchestra was foun ...

in 1999), ''Eleven Gates'' (2005–06) premiered and commissioned by the

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

. and most recently the large-scale work ''Sirens'' jointly commissioned by the LA Phil and

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

. Other important recent works ''Cold Heat'' (2010) which was co-commissioned by the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic () is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. Throughout the 20th century, the orchestra was led by conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler (1922� ...

, the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Tonhalle Orchestra, Zürich Tonhalleorkestern. The piece premiered in 2011 at Berliner Philharmonie under David Zinman. As a part of the 2025 Mahler Festival hosted at the

Concertgebouw, Amsterdam The Royal Concertgebouw (, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb Architectural acoustics, acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in the ...

, a new orchestral piece called ''Hell Mountain''--jointly commissioned by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Oslo Philharmonic, and the

--received its premiere under Klaus Mäkelä leading the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, as a prelude to a performance of Symphony No. 1 (Mahler).

Selected awards

* 1991 and 1997 * International Rostrum of Composers 1992Stark PhD, p. 38
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Selected works

;Orchestral * ''Clang and Fury'' (1985–1989) * ''Cold Heat'' (2010) * ''Dreaming River'' (1999) * ''Eleven Gates'' (2005–2006) * ''Exquisite Corpse'' (2002, 2005) * ''Flood Dreams'' (2009) * ''Himmelsmekanik'' (1983–1985) * ''King Tide'' (1999) * ''Liquid Marble'' (1995) * ''Beast Sampler'' (2014) * ''Sirens'' for two sopranos, mixed choir and orchestra (2011) * ''Sound Atlas'' (2018) * ''Hell Mountain'' (2025) ;Concertante * Violin Concerto No. 1 (1991–1992) * Trombone Concerto (1993) * Clarinet Concerto ''Peacock Tales'' (1999, 2002) * Piano Concerto (2000) * Concerto for 2 Trombones and Orchestra (2004) * Percussion Concerto (2007) * Flute Concerto (2009) * ''Méditations sur Pétrarque'' for oboe and orchestra (2009) * Violin Concerto No. 2 (2016) * Cello Concerto (2020) * Viola Concerto (2021) ;Chamber music * ''Musik för 10 altvioliner'' (Music for 10 Violas) (1987, 1993) * ''Hautposaune'' for trombone and tape (1990) * ''Tampere Raw'' for clarinet and piano (1991) * ''Heisenbergminiatyrer'' for string quartet (2006–2007) ;Choral * ''Mouyayoum'' for mixed chorus (1983–1985)

References

External links

Official webpage

Interview with Anders Hillborg

Anders Hillborg - Virtual International Philharmonic

26 February 2005 {{DEFAULTSORT:Hillborg, Anders 1954 births 20th-century Swedish classical composers 21st-century Swedish classical composers Living people Swedish male classical composers International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners 20th-century Swedish male musicians 20th-century Swedish musicians 21st-century Swedish male musicians Musikförläggarnas pris winners People from Sollentuna Municipality