Dan Laurin

Dan Laurin was born in Jönköping, Sweden, in 1960. In 1976, as an autodidact, he started his recorder studies at The Funen Conservatory of Music in Odense, Denmark. Dan Laurin's teachers were the late Ulla Wijk and Paul Nauta. In 1979 Dan Laurin received his Diploma and continued his studies in Copenhagen, were he made his debut in 1982. Dan Laurin had then spent half a year in Holland, taking lessons from amongst others Walter van Hauwe. The contact with professors Braun and van Hauwe was instrumental for his interest in contemporary recorder music.

The past 20 years Dan Laurin has been teaching on every possible level at academies of music in Scandinavia and Germany. Since 1980, he has held posts at the following academies: The Funen Conservatory of Music in Odense, Denmark (now The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music), The Conservatory of Music in Aalborg, Denmark, The Conservatory of Music in Gothenburg, Sweden and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark. In 1992, Dan Laurin was appointed assistant professor of the recorder and interpretation of baroque music at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, and the following year he was appointed professor of the recorder at the Hochschule für Künste in Bremen, Germany. For years, Dan Laurin conducted several lectures in Swedish and Danish radio on subjects like music aesthetics, as well as reviewing books and articles on music. He has been responsible for developing the Musician/Performer education at The Carl Nielsen Academy of Music, a new concept focusing on contemporary music including stage technique, public relations, music technology, improvisation and body training. In the coming years, Dan Laurin will be guest professor at The National University for Fine Arts and Music, Tokyo.

Dan Laurin has been conducting master classes on a fairly regular basis in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Germany as well as in Australia, Japan and the United States. His teaching schedule also includes lectures on as diverse subjects as GThe Neoplatonic Musical Universeg, GImprovisation Practices in the 16th- and 17th century Musicg and GContemporary works by Japanese composersg.

Last year Dan Laurin was awarded a Danish government grant enabling him to do research on recorder acoustics and sound techniques, the results of which will be published. The research, which aims at developing an individual recorder sound, is carried out in collaboration with leading scientist professor Joe Wolfe at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, and Clas Pehrsson, The Royal Academy of Music, Stockholm, Sweden.

Dan Laurin has been fairly busy on the international concert stage for the past 10 years, following London (Purcell Room) and Paris (Louvre and Le Chatellet) debuts in the late eighties. He performs with his own groups as well as with orchestras like Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, Bach Collegium Japan, The Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra and Berlin Phil. The 1998 itinerary included three tours to Japan and two tours to USA, performances in London, Berlin, Estonia and the Scandinavian capitals. In 1999 Dan Laurin will perform at The Boston Early Music Festival as well as tour extensively in Japan, Estonia and Israel.

Dan Laurin's recording contract with the BIS label keeps him very busy, and the Vivaldi release late 1993 was received as GStern des Monatsg by FonoForum, the foremost magazine on music in German 1994 saw three more releases: GThe Japanese Recorderg, Telemann/J.S. Bach/C.Ph. Bach and GThe Swedish Recorderg, including recorder concertos by Jan Sandström and Swedish jazz flutist Björn Jason Lindh as well as other works commissioned for him. The latter recording earned Dan Laurin the Swedish Association of Composers' prize as best performer of Swedish contemporary music. In 1995, Dan Laurin was awarded a GGrammyg for these four BIS albums. Later releases includes French flute sonatas, Telemann chamber music, Vivaldi concertos with GBach Collegium Japang, the Holmboe recorder concerto, the Handel sonatas, English concertos by Babell, Woodcock and Bastom with GWassenaer Ensembleg and the complete GDer Fluyten Lust-Hofg (9 CDs) by Jacob van Eyck, the world's largest solo work for any wind instrument.

In 1997 Dan Laurin was elected member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.

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A few words about the instruments: The g altos have a dark, powerful sound which I find suitable for some of the slow movements. The construction principles of the larger instruments allow more differentiation in tone colour, providing interesting dynamics for the slow, melodic themes.

The so-called Rosenborg soprano is one of a small number of surviving instruments which have been around in van Eyck's life-time. The original instrument is kept in Rosenborg Castle, a beautiful renaissance castle, a couple of minutes' walk from where I live in central Copenhagen. The recorder is a precious instrument made of an exquisite material: narwhal tooth.

Both my instrument makers live down-under: Fred Morgan lives in Daylesford, a couple of hour's drive from Melbourne, Australia. Paul Whinray lives in Te Henga at the shores of the northern island of New Zealand. None of my work would have been possible without these unique artists. Thank you both.