|
The Swedish conductor (and tenor), Stefan Parkman, began his musical career by singing in the Uppsala Cathedral Boys' Choir and playing the violin. As a student at the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm, he sang in the Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and played the violin in the Uppsala Chamber Orchestra.
Stefan Parkman holds a professorship in choral conducting at the Uppsala University. He is also on the teaching staff of the Royal University College of Music in Stockholm.
Stefan Parkman and active as choir and orchestra conductor. He has been leader of the Uppsala Cathedral Boy's Choir, YMCA Chamber Choir in Stockholm and the Royal Philharmonic Choir in Stockholm. Since 1983 he is conductor of Uppsala Akademiska Kammarkör (UAK). In 1989, he was appointed chief conductor of the Danish National Radio Choir, Radiokoret, and in 2002 he became Chief Conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir. Since 2014 he is Chief Conductor of the WDR Rundfunkchor Köln.
As a freelance conductor, Stefan Parkman regularly conducts the Rundfunkchor and the RIAS Kammerchor in Berlin, BBC Singers in London and Nederlands Kamerkoor in Amsterdam. He appears with numerous symphony orchestras and ensembles in Scandinavia, including emgagements by many Swedish symphony orchestras, choirs and institutions like the Norrland Opera in Luleå, the Royal Opera in Stockholm, the Radio Symphony Orchestra in Copenhagen and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra. The activities include rehearsals and performances of mainly international repertoire, but contemporary Swedish and Danish music is also an important part of the work.
Along with the permanent engagements as professor and conductor Stefan Parkman is also a popular instructor at courses and master classes, seminars and workshops, in Sweden as abroad.
Stefan Parkman is a frequently engaged vocal soloist, mainly for chamber music and oratorio works. As a singer he often appears as tenor soloist in Baroque oratorios and passions, and in e.g. the Passion according to St. John (BWV 245) by J.S. Bach, he successfully combines conducting with singing the part of the Evangelist. He also makes radio recordings of the Scandinavian Romantic repertoire.
In 1997, Stefan Parkman was made Knight of the Dannebrog by Queen Margerethe II of Denmark, and in 1998 he was elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music. |
