Åse Hedstrøm

​

Åse is a Norwegian contemporary composer, born in 1950 in Moss. She studied music at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, and composition at the Norwegian State Academy of Music. She continued her studies in Stockholm with composer Sven-David Sandström. After completing her studies, Hedstrøm received a three-year working grant from the state in 1987, and began composing full-time.

She received the Norwegian Society of Composers' Work of the Year award for the chamber music work Right After in 1985 and for the string quartet Sorti in 1989. Key elements in Hedstrøm’s production include orchestral works Anima (1983), Nenia (1986) and Cantos (1993). Anima received a nomination for a Nordic Council Music Prize in 1986, and Nenia has seen a number of radio performances globally as a result of having been recommended through UNESCO’s International Rostrum of Composers in Paris in 1988. Hedstrøm has received a number of commissions from domestic and international orchestral institutions and festivals including Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, NRK, Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces, Music Factory, Harpans kraft, Stockholm New Music, Musik-Biennale Berlin, BBC, Mirkk Art Forum and Ensemble recherche. Parallel to her compositional career, Hedstrøm has also been active as an organizer and coordinator on the Norwegian music scene, beginning in 1978 when she was appointed as director for NyMusikk (the Norwegian section of ISDM).

​

            Works for symphonic band:

• Sug: For Percussion Quartet and Symphonic Wind Orchestra (1990)

​

            Works for wind ensemble:

• Runner's Blues: for symphonic wind ensemble (2012)