Mikael Karlsson (''Johan Mikael Karlsson''; born August 12, 1975 in

Halmstad Halmstad () is a port, university, industrial and recreational city at the mouth of the Nissan river, in the province of Halland on the Swedish west coast. Halmstad is the seat of Halmstad Municipality and the capital of Halland County. The ci ...

, Sweden) is a Swedish composer based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. He grew up in

Gävle Gävle () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is t ...

, Sweden and moved to NYC in 2001 to study and he took a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in classical composition at the

Aaron Copland School of Music The Aaron Copland School of Music is one of the oldest departments at Queens College, founded when the College opened in 1937. The department's curriculum was originally established by Edwin Stringham, and a later emphasis on the analytical syst ...

2005. Before the move, he had come to know Stefan Strandberg, who became the

audio designer Sound design is the art and practice of creating sound tracks for a variety of needs. It involves specifying, acquiring or creating auditory elements using audio production techniques and tools. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including ...

of the

video game developer A video game developer is a broad term for a software developer specializing in video game development – the process and related disciplines of creating video games. A game developer can range from one person who undertakes all tasks to a larg ...

Digital Illusions CE EA Digital Illusions CE AB (trade name: DICE) is a Swedish video game developer based in Stockholm. The company was founded in 1992 and has been a subsidiary of Electronic Arts since 2006. Its releases include the ''Battlefield'', ''Mirror's Ed ...

which led to a request to make the music to

Battlefield Bad Company ''Battlefield: Bad Company'' is a first-person shooter developed by DICE for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and part of the ''Battlefield'' series. It was released in North America on 23 June 2008, followed by a European release on 26 June. Th ...

released in 2008. He also wrote the music for

Battlefield Bad Company 2 ''Battlefield: Bad Company 2'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by the Swedish firm DICE and published by Electronic Arts for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, iOS and Kindle Fire systems. It is a direct sequel to '' Bat ...

. Mikael Karlsson has collaborated with the

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

Alexander Ekman Karl Wilhelm Alexander Ekman (born 1984) is a Swedish ballet dancer and choreographer. His choreographies have been performed by Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, the Boston Ballet, the Semperoper Ballett, the Nederlands Dans Theater, the Norwegian ...

on several occasions. He has, among other things, written music for Ekman's ballets and sets of Tyll and

Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, Sweden and

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoye ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, link=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failur ...

on the

Oslo Opera The Oslo Opera House ( no, Operahuset) is the home of the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, and the national opera theatre in Norway. The building is situated in the Bjørvika neighbourhood of central Oslo, at the head of the Oslofjord. It is ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. They became good friends when Ekman's sister moved into the apartment that Karlsson inhabited in NYC. Mikael Karlsson has, in addition to classic sets, also made music for film and TV and collaborated with pop artists such as

Andreas Kleerup Andreas Kleerup (born 1979), professionally known as Kleerup, is a Swedish electropop musician. Career Kleerup's career as a producer, composer, songwriter and artist began in music as a songwriter, going on to tour with Teddybears and Robyn ...

Lykke Li Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson (born 18 March 1986), known as Lykke Li (), is a Swedish singer. Her music often blends elements of indie pop, dream pop and electronic. Her debut studio album, '' Youth Novels'', was released in 2008, and has been ...

and

Alicia Keys Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Colu ...

. In 2014, he was praised by the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headq ...

when he received the Wladimir and Rhoda Lakond Award as "outstanding composer in the middle of his career".

Discography

*''Dog'' (with Rob Stephensson), 2006 *''Battlefield Bad Company'' (Official Soundtrack), 2008 *''Privacy'' 2008 *''Life Class'' (for François Rousseau's Atelier), 2009 *''Instead'' EP, 2009 *''Battlefield Bad Company 2'' (Official Soundtrack), 2010 *''Seven Eight'' EP, 2010 *''On This Planet'' (for

Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet was a New York City-based contemporary ballet company. Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet was founded in 2003 by Nancy Walton Laurie.Luke JenningsCedar Lake Contemporary Ballet – review: Sadler's Wells, London '' The ...

by Benoit-Swan Pouffer), 2010 *''Day Comes Apart'' (song cycle), 2010 *''Nattvittje'' (string quartet), 2011 *''Ends'' (the score for the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet performance on So You Think You Can Dance), single, 2012 *''Tyll'' (an Alexander Ekman Ballet for the Royal Swedish Ballet), EP, 2012 *''Phantasmata Domestica'' (with Black Sun Productions),

Old Europa Cafe Old Europa Cafe is an Italian independent record label and mail order service specializing in ambient music, noise music, electronic music, and industrial music. It is based in Pordenone. Originating in the early 1980s Old Europa Cafe began as ...

, 2012 *''A Swan Lake'' (Alexander Ekman's A Swan Lake premiered at the Oslo Opera House), 2014 *''Midummer Night’s Dream'' (two songs from Alexander Ekman's full evening ballet, performed by Anna von Hausswolff), 2015 *''Cow'' (the music to Alexander Ekman's ballet for the

Semperoper Ballett The Semperoper () is the opera house of the Sächsische Staatsoper Dresden (Saxon State Opera) and the concert hall of the Staatskapelle Dresden (Saxon State Orchestra). It is also home to the Semperoper Ballett. The building is located on the T ...

in Dresden, Germany), 2016 *''The Echo Drift'' (a chamber opera, performed live at the

Prototype Festival Prototype Festival is an annual, weeklong contemporary opera and musical theater festival held in New York City. Program Prototype Festival is an annual, weeklong festival of contemporary opera and musical theater. The festival encourages n ...

), 2018 *''Paper Plane'' (the score to Mari Carrasco's dance piece for Riksteatern, Sweden), 2018 *''Internally Black'' (written for Mari Carrasco's piece Svart Invärtes for Norrdans), Rough State Sound, 2018 *''Black Forrest'' (the score to Mari Carrasco's dance piece “Black Forest” for Norrdans) *''The Eskapist'' (Alexander Ekman's Contemporary Ballet performance, Royal Swedish Ballet, 2019)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsson, Mikael 1975 births Living people Swedish composers Swedish male composers