...Head of the Department of Artistic Studies at Karlstad University, which includes the Ingesund School of Music. The application period for our programs—the Music Teacher Programme, Music Production Programme, and our courses Music 60 and College Year — is approaching.
Why should you apply to Ingesund?
”We offer some really great benefits to our students. We have over 30 grand pianos and fantastic teachers. As a future music teacher, you will have the opportunity to practice a lot, which makes you both a good educator and very skilled at your instrument. We have access to the facilities around the clock and have 49 practice rooms, as well as all the classrooms available after teaching hours, making it easy, accessible, and convenient to practice. Additionally, the school is quite small, which means that decision-making paths are short and students can be involved and influence. This also contributes to a nice environment and spirit, the Ingesund spirit as we call it. And the nature around us!”
You have studied to become a music teacher at Ingesund, have been permanently employed since 2001 as a music theory teacher, and are now newly appointed head of the Department of Artistic Studies and thus the highest manager at the Ingesund School of Music. Can you tell us a bit about your background?
”I was born in Iceland and have a Swedish father and a Danish mother. My father is a doctor and comes from a family of doctors, and on my mother's side, the focus has been on teaching and music. My mother is a singer and started the two-year song education at the song line at the Nordic Folk High School in Kungälv. The academic side from my father and the musical side from my mother, I believe, have shaped me into who I am. I have taken the long road via folk high school and five years in the music teacher program at the Ingesund School of Music, then two years in the artistic master's program in Gothenburg. Much interest and focus have been on sound for moving images, and I have written music for some films, commercials, but also for orchestras.”
What would you say is the biggest challenge of being the head of a music school?
”Leadership is a mix of being attentive and humble but also daring to make well-founded and well-anchored decisions. It is an advantage that I have a background as a musician, music theory teacher, and producer. I have a pretty good grasp of that part of the operation. Then the Ingesund School of Music is part of the Department of Artistic Studies at Karlstad University, which also includes dance, visual art in theory and practice, and drama, and these are areas I have needed to understand what they entail. The same goes for artistic research and research in music pedagogy, a challenge but a very enjoyable one. I like to see everything grow and thrive.”
What does music mean to you?
”Music is very strongly associated with affect and emotions. I want to convey feelings with my music, both when I compose and when I sit at the piano and play. It is a way to express things that have happened, whether joy, sorrow, or upset — music is a good channel in that way.”
Will you be able to manage your own music-making in combination with your managerial position?
”I play a lot with my family. My daughters and my wife are skilled singers, and the children sing in choirs, play the French horn, piano, and violin. In fact, we play more together now than we did before; I long more to play nowadays. I enjoy spending time with my wife at the piano. Then I will miss teaching and meeting the students.”
Do you have any advice for those considering applying?
”Be well-prepared when you come to us, read through our website what you need to bring and check carefully which tests you need to do for the education you are interested in. If you have questions, contact our program leaders or course leaders, you are warmly welcome! We hope to see you in the spring!”
