MAGNUS F ANDERSSON was born in Karlskrona on 26th June 1953. He first studied to be a teacher in brass instruments at Stockholm’s Music Pedagogical Institute, from which he graduated in 1978. From 1983 to 1990 he studied composition with Daniel Börtz, Lars-Erik Rosell, Bengt-Arne Wallin, Sven-David Sandström and Pär Lindgren.

Following the completion of his studies he spent some time in Paris in 1991, where he mostly composed, as well as visiting IRCAM. During this period he composed Under bron under tiden (Under the bridge, over time, 1991) for wind band and percussion, which was his breakthrough work as a composer. Another celebrated piece was the Förändringsfanfar (Variable Fanfare), a small piece for each day of the year, written for brass duo and commissioned by the Stockholm Cultural Capital of Europe 1998, where the work was performed each day that year. Andersson also composes electroacoustic music.

Andersson himself says that he tries to maintain a completely open attitude to composing. He establishes strict rules, admittedly, but at the same time he permits himself to break them occasionally. He also attempts to stretch his material with new forms, such as interactive music, for example, where the composition consists more of computer-programming than musical notes. One example of this is Talking to the Witch (1997) for trombone and computer.

Besides composing, Andersson maintains his work as a teacher in composition for youth, in part through his work at Stockholm’s Cultural School, and in part through projects with high schools et al.
(Rev. 2000) Photo Lars Torndahl