Martina Tomner (b. 1983) studied composition at Malmö Academy of Music with professors such as Rolf Martinsson, Kent Olofsson and Luca Francesconi. Following a master’s degree in music education in 2007 (with ensemble teaching, arranging and composition as her main subjects), she went on to study composition for several additional years, earning the degree Bachelor of Music in 2008, Master of Music in 2010, and graduating with a second master’s degree, also known as Composition Diploma, in 2012. Since then, she works as a freelance composer.
She has composed chamber music and electroacoustic music as well as works for larger ensembles and orchestra. Her piece for string orchestra Tempelmusik II was performed at the Venice Biennale in 2010, and in 2011 the Chamber Music Society of Lund arranged a ”composer portrait concert” with her chamber music. In 2013, she was commissioned by Musik i Syd to compose 6 pieces with children at schools in Staffanstorp as part of the project Flygande tanker och toner (Flying Thoughts and Notes). Martina’s music has been performed by ensembles such as Norrköping Symphony Orchestra, Värmland Sinfonietta, Swedish Wind Ensemble, Musica Vitae and Huaröd Chamber Orchestra, and she regularly composes chamber music in close collaboration with musicians (such as the project Sound and Identity where she composed a duo for recorder and piano, premiered by Ida Höög and Anna Christensson). Her chamber opera En studie i instängdhet (A Study in Confinement), which explores the relationship between precomposed and improvised material in the context of music drama, was premiered on Oct 25, 2014 at Fångtornet, Malmöhus. In 2015, she composed the chamber cello concerto Yggdrasil for cellist Simon Bång, and the choral suite Vad som har hänt i sagan, skall hända även mig! on a commission by Mixtus Cantus and Körcentrum Syd. Her works from 2016 include Dance of Destruction and Creation for wind orchestra, commissioned by Gotlandsmusiken, the choral piece Gudars like for the women’s chorus Korallerna in Lund, and the chamber opera Thanatos, which she produced in collaboration with recorder player Ida Höög. During the season of 2017/2018, her orchestral pieces Put out the light (2012) and …was hast du meinem Schlaf zu sagen? (2011) were performed by Malmö Symphony Orchestra. During 2018, MSO also premiered her composition Molnformationer, a commission for Bob Hund’s 25th anniversary concert at Malmö Live. A third work in the genre of experimental chamber music, the interactive performance Des/information, was composed and performed in 2019. In 2020 she composed Stillheten for mixed chorus and percussion for the choir Mixtus Cantus, and in 2021 she was one of the composers creating the music for Kunobröderna, a narrative performance by Fredric Thurfjell and Nordic Saxophone Quartet. Martina is currently working on her fourth experimental music drama project, the chamber opera Avskärmad.
Martina has been awarded grants from, among others, the Royal Swedish Academy of Music, the Swedish Arts Grants Committee, STIM (Swedish Performing Rights Society), the Foundation Annik and Lars Leander and the Fredrika Bremer Association. She is a member of STIM and was selected a member of the Society of Swedish Composers (FST) in 2012.
Besides being a composer, Martina also works as a choral conductor and a teacher of music theory.
Education:
2010-2012: Composition (Diploma) at Malmö Academy of Music (Lund University) with prof. Luca Francesconi.
2008-2010: Composition (Master) at Malmö Academy of Music with, among others, Luca Francesconi, Kent Olofsson and Staffan Storm
2006-2008: Composition (Bachelor) at Malmö Academy of Music with, among others, Rolf Martinsson, Kent Olofsson and Staffan Storm
2002-2007: Music Education (Master – main subject: arranging and composition) at Malmö Academy of Music with, among others, Sten Ingelf, Björn-Tryggve Johansson, Björn Roslund and Staffan Storm
2001-2002: Studies in Musicology at Lund University
Selected grants:
2021: Working grant, Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2020: Swedish Performing Rights Society
2018: Håkan Parkman Memorial Foundation
2018: Working grant, Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2016: Royal Swedish Academy of Music
2015: Working grant, Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2013: Working grant, Swedish Arts Grants Committee
2012: Royal Swedish Academy of Music
2012: Swedish Performing Rights Society
2012: Foundation Annik and Lars Leander
2009: Royal Swedish Academy of Music
2007: Fredrika Bremer Association
For a biography in Swedish, please click here.