Mats Liljefors

Swedish violinist and conductor, born January 2, 1944 in Rönninge, Stockholm County.

He is the son of Ingemar Liljefors.

Liljefors graduated in Stockholm in 1962 and studied music in Stockholm, at the Conservatory in Lucerne 1963–1968 and in Paris 1966–1968. He studied violin for Wolfgang Schneiderhan, among others, conducting for Georges Tzipine and theory for his father. He made his debut as a violin soloist in Stockholm in 1960, founded the Stockholm ensemble in 1970, has been artistic director of "Musik på Slottet" (Music at the Palace) in Stockholm since 1970, was director of the Royal Baltic Festivals in 1993 and became the first guest conductor at St. Petersburg Hermitage Symphony Orchestra 1994. He was Professor of Conducting and Violin at Moorhead State College in Minnesota in 1972.

Liljefors has guest performed with the Stockholm Ensemble / Royal Swedish Chamber Orchestra in South America, USA (including Carnegie Hall and Chicago Orchestra Hall), Japan, France, Germany (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra), Austria (Vienna Music Association), Switzerland, Morocco and Senegal. He conducted the first opera gala at Johanneshov's Ice Stadium in 1985 (Aida) and has been a guest conductor with symphony orchestras in Europe and the USA, at the Munich Opera and at the Sofia Opera Festival. He has conducted gramophone recordings as well as radio and television recordings in several countries. He has composed, among other things, Trialoger.

He took the initiative to build the Peter the Great Music Academy in St. Petersburg with a 14-day intensive workshop for young conductors.

In 1995 he conducted the St. Petersburg Philharmonic with Beethoven's fifth and eighth symphonies.

There have also been a number of disc recordings in Russia. One with Swedish connections with music by Johan Fredrik Berwald and the St. Petersburg-based Johann Gottfried Berwald (cousin and uncle of Franz Berwald), Ludvig Norman, Oskar Lindberg and others. On another CD, Anna Norberg plays Mozart's flute concertos. It is a disc recorded in the Hermitage's old 18th-century theater. On yet another, Gösta Winbergh sings from the Italian opera repertoire.

With the Gävleborg Symphony Orchestra, Mats Liljefors has recorded his grandfather Ruben Liljefors' (brother of painter Bruno) symphony and piano concerto. Music that has never before been released on record, to be released fall 1995.

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