Artistic Director

Staffan Mårtensson, Principal Clarinet of the Royal Swedish Opera, is the Artistic Director of Östergötland Music Days since 2001.

Staffan performs as a soloist, chamber player and conductor. His concert tours as a soloist have taken him all over Europe, for instance to Musikverein and Konzerthaus in Vienna. He peforms regularily with orchestras such as Wiener Concertverein, Slovak Philharmonic, Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, Toulouse Chamber Orchestra, Jan Tallich Orchestra of Prague as well as Scandinavian orchestras.

His repertoire ranges from the classical and romantic masterpieces for clarinet to contemporary works, and he is also a skilled jazz improviser.

His many CD’s have met high appreciation. In 2006 he won a Swedish Grammy as Classical Soloist of the Year with the CD Clarinetto con forza.

Other recordings include works by Schumann and Brahms, concertos by Mozart and Copland and the critically acclaimed CD Stockholm Chamber Jazz.

In 2015 he premiered Albert Schnelzer’s clarinet concerto with the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. He has also premiered solo works by S-D Sandström, Daniel Börtz, Georg Riedel, Mikael Karlsson, Jonas Forssell, Johan Ullén, Carin Bartosch-Edström, Roland Freisitzer, Johannes Kern, Atli Ingolfsson and others.

Staffan holds a master’s degree in conducting and has conducted symphonic orchestras around Sweden, including the Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra, the Norrköping Symphony, the Swedish Army Symphonic Band, the Swedish Wind Ensemble and the Östgöta Symphonic Winds. He is chief conductor of the S:t Tomas Symphony Orchestra in Stockholm. In 2017 he founded SoFoCo – SoFo Chamber Orchestra, with some of Stockholm’s most talented young professional string players. www.sofoco.se

2008-2012, he was the Artistic Director of the prestigious Summer Night Concerts at the National Museum of Stockholm.

In January 2014 he received the Royal Medal Litteris et Artibus, given by HM King Carl XVI Gustaf for ”outstanding artistic achievements”.

www.staffanmartensson.com