Info in English

Scholarships and Grants

Prioritizing is one of the most common words in contemporary discussions. Couldn’t one use the money better?  is sometimes asked, apart from the commonplace discussion, is this really the right prize recipient?

The Music Foundation’s instrument of foundation prescribes what the foundation’s money should be used for, and this is not solely the large annual music prize. The regulations also state that it is possible to award sholarships (which one cannot apply for, but are contingent upon the decision of the foundation’s board) for continued artistic development of young composers, musicians and singers from the Nordic countries.

It is not a boring task to participate in presentiing Leonie Sonning’s Music Award (the large one), but it is of course a pleasant feeling to assist young talented musicians, classical as well as jazz, and it has gone quite well in most cases.

Two years after the establishment of the Music Foundation the first three scholarships of 10,000 each were presented in 1967.  In following years only 2-3 scholarships were awarded annually and the amount remained reasonably fixed at 20% of the large music prize.

Money is good when one is young and moving up in the world, but for an artist the garnering of attention is just as important and the foundation’s board has often considered how these aspiring artists could be presented to a larger audience. In 1971 Mogens Andersen, Head of Music at The Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) suggested that the annual scholarship recipients should be presented at the annual large prize concert, but this suggestion encountered resistance in the foundation’s board.

Some years later the Association of Danish Regional Orchestras came up with a good idea; the presentation of the scholarships could take place at different locations around the country. However, this suggestion was never put into practice, perhaps because the Board of Directors of the Music Foundation accepted the idea with the condition that the scholarship recipient should also be hired by the Regional Orchestra upon completion of his or her education. The foundation would also pay at this time the soloist honorarium.

In the late 1990’s the Music Foundation decided to establish a home website on the internet where attention could be given to the scholarship recipients in the form of a biography, pictures, concert arrangements etc. A few years later we started a cooperation with Franz Howitz and the TV-channel dk4 to present the annual scholarship recipient in an annual TV concert. At the same time there was an increase in the number of scholarships and the award amount was raised to the point where last year 10 scholarships of 60,000 DKK each were presented. Instead of awarding a few larger amounts, the board has decided to award more scholarships at relatively lower amounts.

From 1967 to 2009 there have been awarded 186 scholarships:

Singers
Sylvia Lindenstrand, mezzo soprano, Sweden – 1967
Toni Ernst, singer, Denmark – 1967
Claes-Hakon Ahnsjö, tenor, Sweden - 1968
Susanne Ejvind Paltbo, singer – 1972
Margareta Haverinen, soprano, Finland – 1976
Kåre Bjørkøy, tenor, Norway – 1976
Marie Louise Hasselgren, mezzo soprano, Sweden - 1978
Eva Johansson, soprano – 1982
Gunnar Gudbjörnsson, tenor, Iceland – 1988
Kirsten Møller, soprano – 1989
Michael Kristensen, tenor – 1996
John Laursen, tenor – 1997
Irene Theorin, soprano – 1998
Gisela Stille, soprano – 2000
Ann Petersen, soprano – 2001
Johnny van Hal, tenor – 2001
Signe Asmussen, mezzo soprano – 2002
Sune Hjerrild, tenor - 2003
David Danholt, tenor – 2005
Kristina Wahlin, mezzo soprano, Sweden – 2005
Aileen Bramhall Itani – 2006
Matthias Hedegaard – 2006
Adam Riis, tenor – 2007
Ludvig Lindström, bass baritone, Sweden – 2007
Monika Nørgård Stevns, soprano – 2007
Lars Møller, baritone – 2008
Lina Johnson, soprano, Norway – 2008
Berit Barfred Jensen, soprano – 2009

Composers
Kalevi Aho, Finland – 1973
Lars Hallnäss, Sweden – 1974
Jukka Tiensuu, Finland – 1978
Snorri Sigfús Birgisson, Iceland – 1982
Ivar Frounberg – 1985
Anders Nordentoft – 1987
Bent Sørensen - 1989
Svend Hvidtfelt Nielsen – 1990
Jesper Koch – 1991
Sunleif Rasmussen, the Faroe Islands – 1990
Edina Hadziselimovic – 2000
Eva Noer Kondrup – 2002
Rune Glerup – 2003
Simon Steen-Andersen – 2006
Jeppe Just - 2009

Conductors
Thorgerdur Ingólfsdottir, choir conducter, Iceland – 1975
Michael Schønwandt – 1977
Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finland – 1982
Christian Eggen, Norway - 1984
Kaare Hansen - 1984
Morten Ryelund – 2004
Claus Efland – 2005
Jesper Nordin – 2007
Martin Nagashima Toft – 2008

Violin
Semmy Stahlhammar, Sweden - 1971
Ola Rudner, Norway - 1976
Unnur Maria Ingólfsdottir, Iceland – 1980
Kim Sjögren – 1980
Dan Almgren, Sweden – 1981
Elisabeth Zeuthen Schneider - 1983
Sigrún Evaldsdottir, Iceland – 1985
Johannes Søe Hansen – 1987
Tale Olsson, Sweden – 1988
Sølve Sigerland, Norway – 1994
Birgitte Bærentzen Pihl – 1994
Malin Broman, Sweden – 1996
Tue Lautrup – 1997
Mikkel Futtrup – 2000
Christine Pryn – 2002
Vilde Frang Bjærke, Norway – 2003
Lars Bjørnkjær – 2004
Anna Zelianodjevo – 2004
Monika Malmquist – 2006
Frederik Øland – 2007
Kirstine Futtrup – 2007
Christian Ellegaard – 2008
Nicklas Walentin Jensen – 2008
Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen - 2009

Viola
Unnur Sveinbjarnardottir, Iceland – 1978
Lars Anders Tomter, Sweden – 1986
Magda Stevenson - 2001
Stine Hasbirk – 2002
Eva Katrine Dalsgaard – 2005
Asbjørn Nørgaard – 2009

Cello
Arto Noras, Finland - 1967
Carsten Rasmussen – 1967
Anders Grøn – 1969
Geir Tore Larsen, Norway – 1972
Jacob Kowalski – 1974
Anne Britt Sævig, Norway – 1979
Raimo Sariola, Finland – 1980
Truls Mørk, Norway – 1983
Jonathan Slaatto – 2001
Andreas Brantelid – 2005
Janne Fredens – 2006
Carl-Oskar Østerlind – 2007
Toke Møldrup – 2007

Double-bass
Anne Mette Iversen – 2000

String quartet
Aros Strygekvartetten - 1997
Mira Kvartetten – 2003
Paizo Kvartetten – 2003

Flute
Toke Lund Christiansen – 1969
Henrik Svitzer – 1978
Manuela Wiesler, Iceland – 1981
Henrik Engelbrecht – 1988
Cecilie Højgård Nielsen – 2006

Oboe
Helen Jahren, Sweden – 1985
Andreas Fosdal – 2003
Niels Dittmann – 2003
Kristine Vestergaard – 2007

Clarinet
Ejnar Jóhannesson, Iceland - 1979
Gudni Franzson, Iceland – 1987
Adam Erik Simonsen – 2005
Christian Stene, Norway – 2005
Matthias Kjøller – 2008
Nicolai Eghorst - 2009

Bassoon
Per Hannisdal, Norway - 1981

Saxophone
Christer Johnsson, Sweden – 1980

Trumpet
Ketil Christensen – 1980
Àsgeir Steingrimsson, Iceland – 1985

Trombone
Christian Lindberg, Sweden – 1982
André Jensen – 2009

Piano
Kjell-Ove Dahlman, Sweden – 1973
Jorunn Marie Bratlie, Norway – 1974
Stefan Bojsten, Sweden – 1979
Nanna Hansen – 1979
Eero Heinonen, Finland – 1979
Matti Raekallio, Finland – 1981
Anne Øland – 1981
Mats Widlund, Sweden – 1983
Vladimir Egiazarow, Russia/Norway – 1985
Ilkka Paananen, Finland – 1985
Kristina Kosmina – 1993
Marie Rørbech – 1994
Henri Sigfridsson, Iceland – 1994
Tania Zapolski – 2001
Malene Thastum – 2002
Rikke Sandberg – 2003
Uki Ovaskainen, Finland – 2005
Emil Gryesten Jensen – 2007
Anne-Marie Lipsonen, Finland – 2008
Christian Westergaard – 2008
Jakob Alsgaard Bahr – 2009
Neel Bramsnæs Teilmann – 2009

Organ
Taipo Tiitu, Finland - 1971
Jon Laukvik, Norway – 1978
Kåre Nordstoga, Norway – 1982
Hørdur Askelsson, Norway - 1983
Bine Bryndorf - 1994
David Schmidt – 2009

Guitar
Bo Haraldsson, Sweden – 1984
Pétur Jónasson, Iceland – 1984
Timo Korhonen, Finland – 1988
Anders Nilsson (Miolin) – 1988

Akkordeon
Andreas Borregaard – 2006

Jazz Musicians
Jens Winther, trumpet player – 1982
Aage Tanggaard, drummer – 1984
Frederik Lundin, saxophonist – 1990
Joakim Pedersen, pianist – 1990
Peter Kehl, trumpet player – 1997
Kasper Villaume, pianist – 1997
Jonas Filtenborg, drummer – 2000
Lea Thorlann, singer – 2000
Maj Berit Guassora, trumpet player – 2001
Christian Hougaard Nielsen, bass player – 2001
Johan Norberg, trombone player – 2001
Anders Banke, clarinettist – 2002
Eva Malling, bass player – 2002
Lea Gerhardt, trombone – 2002
Thomas Hedegaard, bass player – 2003
Louise Petersen, percussionist – 2003
Mads Tolling, violinist – 2003
Jeppe Skovbakke, bass player – 2004
Karl Strømme, trumpet player – 2004
Peter Navarro-Alonso, saxophonist – 2004
Sara Indrio Jensen, singer – 2004
Peter Rosendal, pianist – 2005
Jonas Westergaard, bass player – 2005
Magnus Thuelund, saxophonist – 2006
Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard, saxophonist – 2006
Rasmus Ehlers, pianist – 2007
Kasper Wagner, saxophonist – 2008
Mads la Cour Langelund, trumpet player – 2009

In 1990 the Leonie Sonning Music Foundation gave an additional seven scholarships of 4,500 DKK each to cover travel costs and housing to the below mentioned young Nordic soloists who participated in the festival for young Nordic soloists in London from April 23-25 1990, which was arranged by the Nordic Conservatory Council. The goal of the festival was to launch these young artists internationally at a concert in Purcell Room in South Bank Centre.

Leif Ove Andsnes, piano - Norway
Michaela Fukacová, cello - Denmark
Jan-Erik Gustafsson, cello – Finland
Ashildur Haraldsdottir, flute – Iceland
Anders Kilström, Sweden
Dan Laurin, recorder – Sweden
Olle Persson, baritone – Sweden