The earliest traces of Danish music go back to the many twisting Bronze-Age horns or lurs which some experts have identified as musical instruments. They have been discovered in various parts of Scandinavia, mostly Denmark, since the end of the 18th century. Denmark's most famous classical composer is Carl Nielsen, especially remembered for his six symphonies, while the Royal Danish Ballet specializes in the work of Danish choreographer August Bournonville. Danes have distinguished themselves as jazz musicians, and the Copenhagen Jazz Festival has acquired an international reputation. The modern pop and rock scene has produced a few names of note, including MØ, Dizzy Mizz Lizzy, Lukas Graham, D-A-D, Tina Dico, Aqua, The Raveonettes, Michael Learns to Rock, Volbeat, Alphabeat, Safri Duo, Medina, Oh Land, Kashmir, King Diamond, Outlandish, and Mew. Lars Ulrich is the first Danish musician to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Grażyna Bacewicz Biernacka was a Polish composer and violinist. She is the second Polish female composer to have achieved national and international recognition, the first being Maria Szymanowska in the early 19th century.
Unsuk Chin is a South Korean composer of contemporary classical music, who is based in Berlin, Germany. Chin was self-taught piano from a young age and studied composition at Seoul National University as well as with György Ligeti at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.
The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig (German: Hochschule für Musik und Theater "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig) is a public university in Leipzig (Saxony, Germany). Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest university school of music in Germany.
Frederik Reesen Magle is a Danish composer, concert organist, and pianist. He writes contemporary classical music as well as fusion of classical music and other genres. His compositions include orchestral works, cantatas, chamber music, and solo works, including several compositions commissioned by the Danish royal family. Magle has gained a reputation as an organ virtuoso, and as a composer and performing artist who does not refrain from venturing into more experimental projects – often with improvisation – bordering jazz, electronica, and other non-classical genres.
Jacob Thune Hansen Gade was a Danish violinist and composer, mostly of orchestral popular music. He is remembered today for a single tune, Jalousie.
Lera Auerbach is a Soviet-born Austrian-American classical composer, conductor and concert pianist.
The Tolkien Ensemble is a Danish ensemble which created "the world's first complete musical interpretation of the poems and songs from The Lord of the Rings". They published four CDs from 1997 to 2005, in which all the poems and songs of The Lord of the Rings are set to music. The project was approved by the Tolkien Estate. Queen Margrethe II of Denmark gave permission to use her illustrations on the CD covers.
Lars Ulrik Mortensen is a Danish harpsichordist and conductor, mainly of Baroque solo music, chamber music and early music repertory. He was a professor in Munich in 1996–99 and has since then been artistic director of Concerto Copenhagen. He received the Léonie Sonning Music Prize in 2007.
Jennifer Walshe is an Irish composer, vocalist and artist.
Carsten Bo Eriksen alias MBD73 which is short for My Beautiful Decay 1973 is a Danish 21st-century composer and artist.
Events from the year 1942 in Denmark.
Elaine "Ray" Barkin née Radoff was an American composer, writer, and educator.
Iris ter Schiphorst is a German composer and musician.
Dacapo Records is a Danish classical music and new music record label. It was founded in 1989 to promote the classical and new music of Denmark and represents itself as "the Danish National label". The board includes university and Danish Radio appointees. Dacapo also produces jazz and experimental music.
Kumiko Omura is a Japanese composer in the field of contemporary instrumental and electronic music.
The Oeldorf Group was a musicians' collective active in Germany in the 1970s. Based in the village of Oeldorf, near Cologne, their performances emphasized live-electronic music.
Gruppen for Alternativ Musik was a Danish organization formed in Copenhagen in 1972. Founded by Birgitte Alsted and other young composers and performers, the group promoted forms of new music outside of the traditional forms. The group experimented with alternative forms and collective improvisation and performed the members' own compositions in unusual places, such as the Nørreport Station and Copenhagen Zoo. The group was disbanded in 1976.
Marc Edward Neikrug is a contemporary American composer, pianist, and conductor. He was born in New York City, the son of cellists George Neikrug and Olga Zundel. He is best known for a Piano Concerto (1966), the theater piece Through Roses (1980), and the opera Los Alamos (1988). Among his notable recent compositions are the orchestral song cycle Healing Ceremony (2010), his Concerto for Orchestra (2012), a Bassoon Concerto (2013), and the Canta-Concerto (2014). He studied with Giselher Klebe at the Hochschule für Musik Detmold from 1964 to 1968, and composition at Stony Brook University. In 1978 he was appointed as consultant on contemporary music to the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. Since the late 1990s he has been artistic director of the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival. He is also known for collaborations with violinist Pinchas Zukerman.
Hugi Guðmundsson is an Icelandic composer of contemporary classical music. His work is performed internationally at concerts and music festivals. He lives and works as a composer in Copenhagen, Denmark.
