Henrik Hellstenius

Henrik Hellstenius

Henrik Hellstenius (b. 1963) has an intermediate subject of music from the University of Oslo, and a diploma in composition from the Norwegian Academy of Music. He has also studied at the Conservatoire Supérieur in Paris with Gérard Grisey, and computer assisted composition at IRCAM. Musical drama is prominent in his list of works, containing among other things the opera Ophelia: Death by Water Singing, made together with the drama screenwriter Cecilie Løveid, and the ballet Places of Sound, with choreography by Ingun Bjørnsgaard, for the opening of Scene 2 at The Norwegian Opera & Ballet in Bjørvika.

Hellstenius is also able to draw lines of drama into other compositions, such as Readings of Mr. G, in which the percussion solo player also performs as speaker, and last years Ultima piece Perte de mémoire composed for Per Arne Glorvigen and the Oslo Philharmonic.

Henrik Hellstenius is an apt keynote speaker ,and through ten years he led the seminars of the Norwegian Composers’ Association, in which he examined music over several subjects, covering more than the act of composition alone. Of his more original performances was the piece ”lydguide” at the Oslo City mall during the festival Happy Days. The intention was to open people’s ears to sounds and combinations of sounds from the mall, for example in the tool store Clas Ohlson.