It was a good weekend

It was a good weekend for the composer Arnannguaq Gerstrøm. On Friday afternoon, she received notification that she is one of five recipients of Dansk Composer's Association composer's grant Nye Veje.

The grant is DKK 100,000 and must be used for further study. Arnannguaq Gerstrøm will use the grant to immerse himself in his tonal language.

It was a good weekend for the composer Arnannguaq Gerstrøm. On Friday afternoon, she received notification that she is one of five recipients of Dansk Composer's Association composer's grant Nye Veje.

The grant is DKK 100,000 and must be used for further study. Arnannguaq Gerstrøm will use the grant to immerse himself in his tonal language.

- It's a little bit geeky, but it means a lot to get time and room to immerse myself in a project that I call "The quiet substance". I in short, examines how I translate the movements of nature - for example wave gang - for music in my own tonal language, explains Arnannguaq Gerstrøm.

- As a composer, you work a lot with orders that have to end in a specific piece of music. Here I get the opportunity for immersion without having one demand for a finished work hanging overhead.

- I am deeply grateful for the trust that comes with the grant. The quiet rhythms of nature, great contrasts and my roots from Greenland and Denmark is the basis of my music, and it is a great gift to have the time and space to explore it even deeper.

Make a living from music

Arnannguaq Gerstrøm was born and raised in Greenland and has lived in Ilulissat and Nuuk. She has attended music conservatories in Denmark, Sweden and England.

After finishing her education, she returned home to Greenland, where she in a was conductor of orchestras and choirs for a number of years and helped to found Greenland first symphony orchestra. Since 2009, she has created scores for symphony orchestras, ensembles and choirs in both Greenland and internationally and have also work with cross-art projects.

Today she works based in Denmark as a composer, conductor and flautist with orders from soloists, choirs, ensembles and orchestras from all over the world. She primarily works with score music – music written as sheet music scores, so professional musicians can perform the works anywhere, without that the composer needs to be present. It is this kind of music that most often used by symphony orchestras, choirs and chamber ensembles.

Recently, she had a choral work premiered by Roskilde Cathedral Girls choir, and her next premiere will be on February 21 with the Danish Entertainment Orchestra in connection with the DR project.