My name is Lars Pedersen, born 31-01-1961, 2nd tenor.
Educated at the West Jutland Conservatory of Music in General Music Education and Singing Education, and in 1990 I joined the Radio Chamber Choir, after which I took the Diploma in Singing at DKDM.
I've had many exciting assignments with the choir over the years, one of the big ones was on our Australian tour in the mid-90s, where I was the soloist in Mozart's C minor Mass, including two performances at the Sydney Opera House, as well as six other concert halls in Australia, in addition to four a capella programmes. A tough but exciting tour, but nothing compared to the gruelling tour with VE to China, summer 2017,
I was also the soloist on many of the Radio Chamber Choir's and Concert Choir's CD recordings in the first 10 years.
I enjoy singing the intense projects with VE, but also the big symphonic works with the concert choir and travel a lot to experience concerts and opera outside Denmark.
I have sung with Musica Ficta for several years, including a role in the opera Gesualdo, as well as singing in Mogens Dahl's chamber choir and performing in 22 operas as an assistant in the Royal Danish Opera Choir.
I currently conduct and often sing with the Ørsnefano choir at four churches near Ringsted and have a few singing students at home.
My favourite music is broad, but I especially like Mahler, R. Strauss, the romantic music, but I also love singing the broad palette in VE, where we sing everything from A-Z.
The most difficult music I've ever sung was Henze's 9th Symphony, which I managed to do twice, yes, and then the two fugues in Heinz Schmidt's great work that we did at Christmas 2017, where I got sick for the concert in practice.
Retirement is now approaching, and if I'm not extended at a rehearsal in June, I'll be leaving the choir in a year. Maybe I'll sing in the concert choir, but otherwise I'll try to find a job that has nothing to do with music and choose to become a music lover, not a music performer.
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My name is Monika Malmquist and I play the violin.
I joined the Danish National Symphony Orchestra's 1st Violin section in 2015.
I grew up in Vig in Odsherred, and come from a family where my father always played both folk music and sea shanties, but classical music was not something that was cultivated.
I fell in love with the violin at the age of 5 after watching a children's programme on TV where a girl played the violin.
So then I started violin lessons at the local music school. I had private lessons and was part of a string group where we played all sorts of different things. Both hymns and Beatles.
When I was 11-12 years old, I got a new teacher who told my parents that they could prepare themselves for the fact that they would have to drive me to Copenhagen for qualified tuition in a couple of years.
And he arranged for me to attend Anker Buch's violin course and play for the concertmaster of the Royal Danish Orchestra, Lars Bjørnkjær.
Lars became my teacher until I started at DKDM with Professor Milan Vitek.
I then studied in the US and back in Copenhagen with Professor Serguei Azizian.
I also studied 2 years in Madrid at the chamber music programme at
Reina Sofia Escuela de Musica with my piano trio “Trio Ismena”.
I was employed in the DR Entertainment Orchestra for about 6 years.
I like to play many different genres. I quite often appear on various CD recordings or concerts with pop and jazz groups.
In Trio Ismena (www.trioismena.com), we have a wide repertoire that includes classical, romantic and even brand new music.
We often collaborate with contemporary composers and it's very exciting to have a varied programme for our concerts.
I don't have a favourite composer, but I love Mahler, Shostakovich, Nielsen (he's probably the closest I have to a favourite), violin music and of course a whole lot of chamber music. There is so much great music!
I have been fortunate enough to receive, among others, the J.C. Hempel scholarship, Jacob gade scholarship and Sonning scholarship for young talents.
I have won the Yamaha Foundation of Europe Scholarship and also the Conservatory Scholarship Competition and Violin Competition in 2005, 2006 and 2007.
I have also won 2nd prize and DR UnderholdningsOrkestrets prize in the Danish String Competition, and am also a prize winner in the Trondheim Chamber Music Competition and 1st prize winner in the DR P2 Chamber Music Competition with my piano trio “Trio Ismena”.