Jesper Sivebæk

Position

Associate Professor

department coordinator

Studies

Guitar

Area

Guitar

Department

Education

E-mail

jesper.sivebaek@dkdm.dk

When, as a child, Jesper Sivebæk encountered the Spanish guitar legend Andrés Segovia, he was deeply fascinated by his sound, and the course of Jesper’s future life was set. He studied at the West Jutland Academy of Music in Esbjerg under Associate Professor Jørgen Bjørslev, and at L’Université du Québec in Montreal under Prof. Alvaro Pierri. In 1993 he made his debut in the soloist class of the Malmö Academy of Music under Prof. Per-Olof Johnson. He has attended masterclasses med Julian Bream, John Williams and Alicia de Larocha, amongst others.

Teaching

Jesper has been teaching guitar at RDAM since 2004, from 2007 as an associate professor with responsibility for the guitar class. He has previously taught at the academies of music in Esbjerg and Odense.

“My goal is to give students the musical and technical tools and the knowledge they need to develop their own individual musicianship. We must cherish our core repertoire and provide our students with in-depth knowledge of the various musical styles and their performance practices, but it is also important to be curious about new repertoire and what is happening on the music scene, including the unusual.”

– Jesper Sivebæk

RDAM’s guitar students have distinguished themselves internationally and have won prizes at major competitions around the world, including:

Erlendis Quartet

1st prize in GFA Ens. Comp., USA 2017 and the Chamber Music Competition of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s P2 channel.

Niklas Johansen

Talent Award in the Chamber Music Competition of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation’s P2 channel 2018, 1st prize in China Shenyang Int. Guitar Comp. 2016 and 18th “Alirio Diaz” Int. Guitar Comp., Rust, Austria 2016

Davur Birgisson

1st prize in the Stella Polaris competition, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands

Aros Guitar Duo

1st prize in the Omiš Guitar Fest, Croatia and Int. Chamber Music comp. in Fiuggi, Italy

Jonas Egholm

1st prize in the Festival Internacional de Guitarra José Tomás - Villa de Petrer

Artistic practice

Jesper has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at numerous concerts throughout Europe, as well as in the USA and China. In the late eighties he founded the Scandinavian Guitar Duo together with Per Pålsson, and as a soloist he has performed with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra Kielce, the Zapolski Quartet, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen and the Royal Danish Orchestra, where in addition to the guitar he also played banjo, mandolin, electric guitar, double bass guitar and lap steel guitar.

Jesper is active on both classical guitar and electric guitar in the latest compositional music, in close collaboration with the composers. He has participated in premieres and Danish premieres of works by, amongst others, Börtz, Takemitsu, Ruders, Reich, Glass, Nørgård, Frandsen, Hegaard, Rosing-Schow, Bogdanovic, Agerfelt Olesen and Holmboe.

www.jespersivebaek.com

Awards and scholarships

- The Francisco Tarrega Prize at the Certamen Internacional de Guitarra Francisco Tarrega in Benicasim, Spain.

- Concours International de Guitarre in Carpentras, France.

- Incontri Chitarristici di Gargnano, Italy.

- Winner of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation Chamber Music Competition in 1993 with the Scandinavian Guitar Duo.

- Recipient of the Sonning Foundation’s special “Segovia Prize”

Research and development

Pedagogical development (PUV)

Guitar Safari - Jesper Sivebæk
New practice - Erik Karlberg and Jesper Sivebæk
2-teacher classes: Musikalsk leg med guitaren i centrum (Musical play, centred on the guitar) - Kirsten Nielsen and Jesper Sivebæk (2000-2002)

Courses have been held in connection with the project, and a report on the project has been published.

Artistic development (KUV)

I samspil med Ole Schmidt (In interplay with Ole Schmidt) - Bjarke Mogensen & Jesper Sivebæk (2021-2023)
The Danish composer Ole Schmidt left behind solo works for guitar and accordion. The works possess great artistic quality, but lack the critical review by an instrumentalist that is often necessary for a work to be realised in practice. The project focuses on the role of the musician as both steward and creative co-creator when works are to be revised and made a living part of the repertoire.

International activities

Erasmus exchanges and international co-operation with the Academy of Music, Tallinn, the Royal College of Music, London, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, Consercatorio di Musica Giuseppe Tartini, Trieste, Centra Conservatory of Music, Beijing, Conservatory of Music, Tianjin, Turku Music Academy, Finland, Sibelius Academy of Music, Helsinki, Conservatorio Superior de Musica Oscar Espla, Alicante, Sarajevo Music Academy.

Distance Learning at Manhattan School of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music, the Royal College of Music, the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, Yale University, Turku Music Academy, Finland, Robert Schumann Hochschule, Düsseldorf.

Recruitment

Guitar day at RDAM

An annual guitar day focusing on orchestral playing with the guitar, at which more than 100 music school guitarists of all levels come together to rehearse a concert that is performed for their families at the end of the day.

The conference is a project involving all guitar students at RDAM. In co-operation with Henrik Bay Hansen.

Representative duties, directorships

- Member of the board of Kunsthal Kongegaarden - https://kongegaarden.dk

- Koncertudvalget i dansk guitar selskab - (Concert Committee of the Danish Guitar Society) http://danskguitarselskab.dk

Publications

CD releases

12 Kim Larsen songs in classical guitar disguise.
Jesper Sivebæk, solo guitar
www.ourrecordings.com

Lars Hegaard
Octagonal Room – Solo and Chamber Works for Guitar

Jesper Sivebæk, Signe Asmussen, Cæcilie Balling, Morten Zeuthen, Max Artved, Tim Frederiksen, Alba String Quartet

Dacapo 8.226594

G.F. Händel, Fernando Sor, Enrique Granados, Gabriel Fauré
All Classics

Scandinavian Guitar Duo
Gateway Records. Autumn 2021

John Frandsen
Songs
Lise Davidsen, Liv Oddveig Midtmageli, Morten Grove Frandsen, Aleksander Nohr, Sofia Wilkman, Orsi Fajger, Jesper Sivebæk
Dacapo 8.226582

Niels Rosing-Schow
Alliages
Helene Gjerris, Jeanette Balland, Jesper Sivebæk, Hélène Navasse, Asbjørn Nørgaard, Andreas Borregaard, Svend Melbye, Mathias Reumert
Dacapo 8.226580

Vagn Holmboe
Solo and Chamber Works for Guitar
Jesper Sivebæk, Bolette Roed, Johannes Søe Hansen
Dacapo 8.226143

Poul Ruders
Works for Guitar
Jesper Sivebæk, Ensemble Fyn, Kiki Brandt
Dacapo 8.226542

Isaac Albeniz, Manuel de Falla, Joaquin Rodrigo
Spanish at Heart
Scandinavian Guitar Duo
EMI Classic

Anders Koppel, Thomas Clausen, Harald Sæverud, Rasmus Zwicki
Made in Scandinavia
- Suite of Swedish folk melodies and Danish folk songs
Scandinavian Guitar Duo
Gateway Records