Jonas Frølund
Biography Jonas Frølund
Jonas Frølund
Jonas’s formal musical education began in Copenhagen with John Kruse as his principal teacher. An international prizewinner, he moved on from the Royal Danish Academy of Music (DKDM) to the Paris Conservatoire (CNSMDP) with Pascal Moragues and Philippe Berrod as his principal teachers, graduating with flying colours in Paris 2022.
Jonas Frølund’s repertoire includes everything from the late 1700s till today – he is equally fond of solo work, chamber music and concertos and is busy exploring these fields as an active and sought-after musician as well as an inventive first-mover and back-stage worker, notably as co-founder and member of the rising Copenhagen-based international wind quintet and concert organiser V Coloris. He is principal clarinet and board member in The Danish Chamber Orchestra, a perfect match for him both artistically and in matters of values and standards. Already in his student years he worked as an interim group leader in the Malmö Symphony Orchestra – an experience that proved highly rewarding but paradoxically also helped him settle for a rising career as an artist-entrepreneur with goals other than mainly playing in opera and symphony orchestras (which he is very skilled at, actually). His brilliant technique is matched by an inquisitive and inventive mind, and it is only natural that on one hand he inspires contemporary composers to write challenging new stuff for him while on the other he will dive into the sea of music older than the clarinet as an instrument to find pieces that might fit his concert activities and widen his circle of musical partners. His acute ear and lively spirit allow him to also explore the world of improvisation and jamming; a precise and structured approach to music and to life serves him well as a budding organiser of practical music-making such as festivals and events, etc.
SOLO ALONE AND MORE is the first album to present Jonas Frølund the clarinet virtuoso, the musician and indeed the programme editor who aims to take the listener on an hour-long musical journey. A notable chamber music recording is the Ruders album issued by OUR Recordings in 2022, and in May 2023 Dacapo released a Mette Nielsen portrait album, Frozen Moments, comprising among other works three chamber music pieces from 2021, Alone, Together, and Apart, closely related and in the first two instances written for and played by Jonas Frølund. As an orchestral clarinet leader he can be heard in the Naxos box of the rahms symphonies released by The Danish Chamber Ochestra in 2022; 2020 saw the appearance of an independent Dinu Lipatti release from V Coloris, who in 2023 even released a single of Bartók’s Six Romanian Folk Dances in their own arrangements. Two videos of Jonas Frølund performing Gunnar Berg’s Pour clarinette seule I and II in a unique Jutland setting of landscape, architecture and modern art are offered by the Edition Svitser YouTube channel (2023).
