Press Reviews:
Gos, premiered by Elísabet Einarsdóttir and Elektra Ensemble
Jónas Sen, Fréttablaðið, 30 January 2016
download file (Icelandic)
"The final piece on the programme was on the other hand powerful. It was so funny that one was rolling with laughter. The music was entertainingly vivid and successfully conveyed the woman's emotions to the audience. It was visual and dramatic, as well as light and playful. This was amazing."
Flimmer, premiered by ensemble recherche, Freiburg
Gero Schreier, Badische Zeitung, 24 September 2013
"Petter Ekman, among the youngest composers of the evening, represented a consilidated idiom with a strong will to express. Ekman's Flimmer impressed with conciousness in a relatively short playing duration."
al coda, premiered by Symphony Orchestra Norrköping
Molly Teleman, Norrköpings Tidningar, 31 May 2013
"Petter Ekman had the courage to use silence as a device.Aftermaths, sighs of music, between rests. Al coda is the piece following the great romantic piece - the piece he will never compose. (...) a name I would like to hear more from."
Röda Rummet, premiered by Caput, Reykjvavik
Jónas Sen, Fréttablaðið, 6 January 2013
"Röda Rummet, four songs from Strindberg's novel, were again influential. The music was by Petter Ekman and Elísabet Einarsdóttir sang beautifully."
Petter Ekman, from Gothenburg, Sweden, started early to compose music. After studying music at Hvitfeldtska Gymnasiet in Gothenburg, he studied for Per Mårtensson at the Gotland School for Composers. He then studied composition for Atli Ingólfsson at the Iceland Academy of the Arts and for Gabriele Manca at Conservatorio ”G.Verdi”, Milan, Italy, with Karin Rehnqvist and Hans Gefors at the Swedish Royal College of Music, Stockholm. Later, he studied with Luca Francesconi at Malmö Academy of Music.
Initially focusing on instrumental music, in recent years he has shifted some of his energy to vocal and dramatic music. He has collaborated with and written music for, among others, Ensemble Recherche (DE), Swedish Radio Choir (SE), Caput Ensemble (IS), Symphony Orchestra Norrköping (SE), Stockholm Opera College (SE), Kolbeinn Bjarnason (IS), TAK ensemble (US) Podium Festival Iceland (IS), Gotlandsmusiken (SE), Elektra Ensemble (IS) and Nordic Chamber Soloists (SE/IS/DK/NO). Also, he is a long time collaborator of soprano Elísabet Einarsdóttir who has premiered many of Petterʼs pieces. He wrote the music for the opera The Murder of Halit Yozgat together with Ben Frost, premiered at Staatstheater Hannover in 2022.
Apart from composing he’s much in demand as an arranger, orchestrator and conductor. Collaborations with Ben Frost include music for television series such as DARK, Fortitude, Raised by Wolves, 1899, and the motion picture Palestine 36. With Högni Egilsson he arranged the scores for the series Katla and King & Conqueror, and the movie Touch. Apart from numerous works for the screen, he has collaborated with a diverse range of orchestras, composers and artists, including arrangements for Sigur Rós, VETO and most recently creating the arrangements and incidental music for a concert with Victor Leksell and symphony orchestra.
