In May 2014 Martin Fröst will be presented with the Léonie Sonning Music Prize, which is now recognized as one of the world’s longest standing and highest musical honours. He is the first clarinettist to be chosen for the award, given for continued outstanding contribution to music. Previous recipients have included Igor Stravinsky, Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Brendel and Simon Rattle.
Autumn 2013 sees the release on BIS of an all Mozart CD – the Clarinet Concerto, in which he directs The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, the Kegelstatt Trio with Leif Ove Andsnes and Antoine Tamestit and the Allegro in B flat with Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Maxim Rysanov and Torleif Thedéen. Fröst also performs the Mozart Concerto in his debuts with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (Sir Roger Norrington), Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (Stanisław Skrowaczewski), Orpheus Chamber Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and Bamberger Symphoniker (Jonathan Nott). On tour, he performs the concerto with the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig (Riccardo Chailly), Camerata Salzburg (Louis Langrée), the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Swedish Chamber Orchestra (Thomas Dausgaard).
Other upcoming highlights include Fröst’s debuts with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (performing Lutosławski Dance Preludes and Hillborg’s Peacock Tales under Xian Zhang), Orchestre National de France (Copland Concerto with David Zinman) and Bamberger Symphoniker (Kalevi Aho’s Concerto with Osmo Vänskä), Tonhalle-orchester Zürich (Herbert Blomstedt), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande (Neeme Järvi), Luzerner Sinfonieorchester (James Gaffigan), Cincinnati Symphony (Louis Langrée), Houston Symphony (Andrés Orozco-Estrada) and Washington’s National Symphony Orchestra (Osmo Vänskä).
Further ahead, Martin Fröst appears as Artist in Residence at the Gothenburg Symphony, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and London’s Wigmore Hall, where he will collaborate with artists such as Miah Persson, Maxim Rysanov, Roland Pöntinen, Apollon Musagète Quartet and Academy of St Martin in the Fields.
Fröst’s extensive discography for BIS, including the critically acclaimed ‘Dances to a Black Pipe’, will be increased further in spring 2014, with the release of Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet, where he reunites with Janine Jansen, Boris Brovtsyn, Maxim Rysanov and Torleif Thedéen.
Fröst’s passion for expanding the clarinet repertoire has seen him personally champion works such as Anders Hillborg’s Peacock Tales (incorporating elements of mime and dance), Kalevi Aho’s Concerto, commissioned for him by the Borletti-Buitoni Trust), Rolf Martinsson’s Concerto Fantastique and Bent Sørensen’s Clarinet Concerto, which he premiered with the Netherlands Radio Chamber Orchestra at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Cologne’s Philharmonie under Michael Schønwandt in 2012/13.
A keen recitalist and chamber musician, appearances in 2013/14 include a series of concerts with Marc-André Hamelin and Anthony Marwood, in a programme of Debussy’s Rhapsody for clarinet and piano, Poulenc’s Sonata for clarinet and piano and an arrangement of Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale. The trio give performances in Boston, San Francisco, and London’s Wigmore Hall.
Fröst also works as a conductor, appearing with the Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, Norrköping Symphony and Detroit Symphony orchestras, and The Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen.
2014 marks the 10th season of Vinterfest in Mora, Sweden, of which Martin Fröst is Artistic Director. He also holds the post of Artistic Director of the International Chamber Music Festival in Stavanger, Norway.
Website: http://www.martinfrost.se/