photograph was taken at some point during the years when Hugo Alfvén was employed at Uppsala University as Director of Music. The photograph originates from Alvin, a national digital cultural heritage platform.

2022-10-07

Concerts in celebration of Hugo Alfvén

This year, 2022, marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of composer Hugo Alfvén. The celebrations include several concerts during October. For many years, Hugo Alfvén was Director of Music at Uppsala University.

Hugo Alfvén is a frequent name in compilations of Sweden's leading composers. His music belongs to the late national romanticism, and he wrote over 200 works including symphonies, choral arrangements, songs and rhapsodies. His choral works and songs are perhaps the most popular today. Search results on Spotify show that Hugo Alfvén's music has almost 70,000 listeners a month.

In October, three concerts and an introductory lecture will be given at Uppsala University to celebrate the jubilee.

Links to Uppsala University

Hugo Alfvén was Director of Music at Uppsala University from 1910 until his retirement in 1939. Director of Music (Director Musices) is a title at Uppsala University that dates back to the 1620s. Director of Music is conductor and artistic director of the Royal Academic Orchestra, Uppsala University's symphony orchestra.

During his years at the university, he was also artistic director for the Orphei Drängar male choir as well as the Allmänna Sången choir for some of the time.

Hugo Alfvén was also among those housed in an official residence by the university. He first lived in Linneanum. Thanks to a donation, the Musicum building could be built, with rehearsal rooms and an official residence for the Director of Music. Hugo Alfvén moved house during 1930 and was the first to use the official residence.

Anders Berndt

Concerts during the Alfvén Jubilee

Chamber music at Musicum

Friday 14 October 2022, free admission, advance booking required.

Among others, music by Hugo Alfvén is performed by soprano Kari Koskinen (student at Stockholm University of the Arts), violinist Josef Andersson and pianists Max Brynolf and Marcin Tjernbäck (students at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm).

Jubilee Concert: Hugo Alfvén 150 Years

Saturday 15 October 2022, free admission, but ticket is required.

Introductory lecture by Tobias Lund, Senior Lecturer and PhD in Musicology at Lund University, on the occasion of his new Alfvén biography.

Jubilee Concert with the following ensembles: Royal Academic Orchestra, Uppsala University Jazz Orchestra, Allmänna Sången choir, Orphei Drängar male choir, Uppsala Academic Chamber Choir, La Cappella female choir, Uppsala Blåsarsymfoniker symphonic wind band. Compere: Stina Ekblad.

Master's Course Concert (Mästarkurskonsert)

Thursday 20 October 2022, free admission, advance booking required.

Concert with the participants from the master's course with Anne Sofie von Otter and Bengt Forsberg.

Filtration