Flock Karin Hellqvist

• Carola Bauckholt (b. 1959):
• 1Doppelbelichtung (2016)12:22
• Jan Martin Smørdal (b. 1978):
• 2flock foam fume (2016)11:33
• Henrik Strindberg (b. 1954):
• 3Femte strängen (2009)08:35
• Malin Bång (b. 1974):
• 4...när korpen vitnar (2003)09:00
• Natasha Barrett (b. 1972):
• 5Sagittarius A* (2017)29:43
• Total Runtime01:11:13

Info for Flock

The sound-world of the violin and of electronic music may not be as far apart as one would immediately think. When composer and radio engineer Pierre Schaeffer stated in the middle of the 20th century that sound recording and speakers created a new listening situation by detaching the sound from the sound source, he alluded to the ancient mathematician Pythagoras.

The latter experimented with lecturing for his students behind a curtain, because he wanted them to listen more attentively to what he was saying. This was the same Pythagoras who also demonstrated how the length of a string is in proportion to the pitches that the string can produce.

At the same time, the meeting between a violin and electronic sounds points toward oppositions that have structured our Western self understanding: tradition vs. innovation, material vs. immaterial, history vs. present, nature vs. science. The works of this recording explore, accentuate, attack, and erase these contradictions between the violin sound and electronic sound in various ways. Karin Hellqvist performs internationally as an interpreter of contemporary music.

Through collaboration and dialogue, her work examines, realizes, and contributes to the process of creating new music. Hellqvist is a member of several leading ensembles in contemporary music throughout Scandinavia, such as Cikada, Oslo Sinfonietta, Ensemble neoN, and Duo Hellqvist/Amaral and she is a frequent guest performer in major international arenas for contemporary and experimental music. Her performances have been broadcast internationally and she has contributed to several award-winning recordings. She was educated at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Universität der Künste Berlin, the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, and at the Royal College of Music London, where she graduated with an Artist Diploma in Performance in 2011. In 2016 she received the Interpreter’s Prize from the Swedish Society of Composers. She is currently a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Karin Hellqvist, violin

Karin Hellqvist
Swedish violinist Karin Hellqvist is performing internationally as an interpreter of contemporary music. With profound engagement in the music of today she is a sought after soloist as well as a dedicated chamber musician. Through active collaborations and dialogue with composers her work aims at understanding, examine, realize and contribute to the process of creating new music.

Karin Hellqvist is a member of several forefront ensembles for new music in Scandinavia. With Cikada, Oslo Sinfonietta, neoN, Faint Noise and Duo Hellqvist/Amaral she dedicates her time to commissioning and performing new works as well as championing the established contemporary repertoire. In her solo project she recently commissioned a body of solo works exploring the violin in the company of electronics and various sound objects; paired with flower pots, guitar pedals, street noise, chain saws and bird song.

Regularly invited to renowned international scenes for contemporary music she has performed at festivals as Warsaw Autumn, Wittener Tage, Donaueschinger Tage, Münchener Biennale, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, Venezia Biennale, Milano Musica, Ultraschall Berlin, Harvard University, Berliner Philharmonie, Pan Music Festival Seoul and the International Summer Course for New Music Darmstadt.

Hellqvist's performances have been broadcasted in many countries and she has contributed to several award winning recordings. She is collaborating with Norwegian record label LAWO Classics and her debut album flock was released in October 2019. She was educated at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Universität der Künste Berlin, the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and at the Royal College of Music in London from where she graduated with an Artist Diploma in Performance in 2011. In 2016 she received the Interpreter's Prize from the Society of Swedish Composers and she holds a five year working grant from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee. During years 2018-2022 Karin is a PhD research fellow at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

This album contains no booklet.