Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen

Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen (born December 3, 1969) is a Danish composer and cellist. Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen studied cello at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus from 1991 to 1998, and composition with Karl Aage Rasmussen, Olav Anton Thommesen, Henryk Górecki, and Poul Ruders in Aarhus, Katowice, and London during the period 1998–2003. Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen’s primary artistic work takes place in the tension between tradition and renewal, and he often uses this tension quite concretely as a kind of driving force and generator of material in his music. One example is his Weihnachtsoratorium, which he wrote with Bach’s score at his side while, according to his own statement, “carefully making sure not to copy a single phrase from the original work.” Should it nevertheless happen, “it would occur after thorough consideration.” Another example of the dialectic between tradition and renewal can be seen in his extensive production of string quartets. Thomas Agerfeldt Olesen has written 11 string quartets for a number of the most internationally renowned ensembles, including Quartetto di Cremona, the Henschel Quartet, and in Denmark the Danish String Quartet and Nightingale String Quartet.