Martin Fröst
Clarinet
Clarinettist and conductor Martin Fröst is known for pushing musical boundaries. Widely recognised as an artist who constantly seeks new ways to challenge and reshape the classical music arena, his repertoire encompasses mainstream clarinet works, as well as a number of contemporary pieces that he has personally championed. Winner of the 2014 Léonie Sonning Music Prize, one of the world’s highest musical honours, Fröst was the first clarinetist to be given the award. International Classical Music Awards voted him their 2022 Artist of the Year Award for his innovative global career, his impressive discography, and his philanthropy.
Fröst was announced as Artist in Residence with Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Orquesta Sinfónica de Castilla y León for the 2023/24 season. He continues to focus on his activities as Chief Conductor of Swedish Chamber Orchestra.
As a soloist, Fröst has performed with some of the world’s greatest orchestras, including Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, New York and Los Angeles philharmonic orchestras and Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He regularly collaborates with prominent international artists, including Yuja Wang, Janine Jansen, Leif Ove Andsnes, Roland Pöntinen and Antoine Tamestit, as well as performs in international events such as Verbier Festival in Switzerland and Mostly Mozart in New York. He was Artist in Residence with Royal Concertgebouworkest for the 2022/23 season, the first ever wind player to be given that honour.
In recent years he has made successful conducting steps with the most important being his appointment as Chief Conductor of Swedish Chamber Orchestra for the 2019/20 season. Together they have embarked on a music journey that explores Mozart’s historic footprint in Europe through his travels. The project is the orchestra’s first comprehensive green tour initiative, making extensive use of rail travel across Europe.
Renowned for his multimedia performing projects in collaboration with Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, in recent years Fröst has presented Dollhouse, Genesis and most recently Retrotopia – his latest project to perform both as soloist and conductor in a musical journey that explores new repertoire and challenges the traditional conventions of the classical concert.
A keen advocate of the importance of music education, in 2019 Fröst launched the Martin Fröst Foundation with the support of the world’s largest manufacturer of wind instruments, Buffet Crampon. The purpose of the organisation is to provide resources that can improve and enable children’s and young people’s access to music education and instruments. The Foundation aims to join forces with non-profit organisations and various sponsors across the world, having already established a presence in Kenya and Madagascar.