Fredrik Fors

Fredrik Fors grew up in the Swedish town Borlänge in Dalarna, and started playing the clarinet at the age of ten.

− I soon had positive experiences with both music and fellow musicians, and that made me decide to be a musician very early on, he says.

Fredrik made his debut as a soloist when he was fifteen, with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. He later studied at Kungliga Musikhögskolan in Stockholm, and also drew inspiration from legendary conductors and soloists of other instruments:

− Many great musicians have had a big influence on me, for example Vladimir Horowitz, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau and Herbert von Karajan.

− There is always more to discover and understand

Fredrik was engaged by the Oslo Philharmonic in 1995 and has been a soloist with the orchestra in clarinet concertos by W.A. Mozart and John Corigliano, among others. In January 2016 he will perform as a soloist again, in the world premiere of Bjørn Kruse´s new clarinet concerto Chronotope.

He finds it difficult to pick out highlights from his years as Principal clarinet player in the orchestra.

− I have had many great experiences with the Oslo Philharmonic, so it is difficult to pick out just one. The concerts we have had with the conductors Mariss Jansons and Herbert Blomstedt have been really great - to mention two of my favourites.

Fredrik´s favourite composers are Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. And he enjoys constantly discovering new aspects of the classics:

− The best part − and the worst part − of being a musician, is that there is no perfect way of playing a piece of music − there is always more to discover and to understand.

When Fredrik isn´t playing, he likes keeping fit, preferably by running, and reading books.