Stefan Nilsson (composer)

Stefan Nilsson (27 July 1955 – 25 May 2023) was a Swedish composer and pianist who wrote music for feature films and television shows, including Bille August’s Pelle the Conqueror and The Best Intentions, as well as Kay Pollak’s As It Is in Heaven. Born in Kukasjärvi, Hietaniemi, in the north of Sweden, Nilsson studied music at Framnäs folkhögskola outside of Piteå., where he developed an interest in jazz. At that time, he formed the progressive jazz group Kornet which also, among others, featured Örjan Fahlström, another prolific jazz musician, arranger and composer. The group existed until the late 1970s, and released three albums. Simultaneously, Nilsson continued to study music at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm 1975–1977. As a film composer, Nilsson wrote numerous scores for Swedish filmmakers such as Gösta Ekman, Hans Alfredson and Peter Dalle. To international audiences, he is best known for his music for the films of Bille August, for whom he scored Pelle the Conqueror (1987), The Best Intentions (1991), Jerusalem (1996) and A Song for Martin (2001). In Sweden, due to the success of the film in the domestic box office and the hit song he wrote for it to lyrics by Py