Johan Bridger
BACKGROUND
Johan Bridger was educated at the Malmö Academy of Music and earned his Master’s degree in Michael Burritt’s percussion class at Northwestern University in Chicago in 2001. In 2004, he made his debut with the Malmö Symphony Orchestra, and in 2005, he completed the Diploma/Soloist program under Lennart Gruvstedt at the Malmö Academy of Music. Between 1997 and 2005, Johan also studied privately with marimba soloist Leigh Howard Stevens.
TEACHING
Since 2001, Johan has been teaching at Sundsgårdens Folkhögskola, and since 2005, he has been a part-time lecturer at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. Since the early 2010s, Johan has also been teaching at the Danish National Academy of Music in Odense and at the Malmö Academy of Music, where he became the head percussion teacher in 2023.
Between 2020 and 2024, Johan was affiliated with the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre as a supervisor in their doctoral program.
Additionally, Johan regularly gives masterclasses across the Nordic countries, Europe, as well as in Asia and the Americas.
ARTISTIC PRACTICE
“For an intense personal expression, brilliant technical mastery, and a commanding stage presence.”
This was the jury's motivation when Johan won the Swedish Soloist Prize in 2004. The same year, he also won first prize in the Belgium International Marimba Duo Competition with the percussion duo MalleusIncus and made his debut at both the prestigious Wigmore Hall in London and PASIC in the USA.
Since then, Johan has been active as a percussion soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician.
Johan’s repertoire is diverse, ranging from J.S. Bach to newly written and contemporary classical music. He has premiered several works by leading composers such as Tobias Broström, Alejandro Viñao, Pius Cheung, Marcin Blazewitz, Daniel Börtz, and Michael Burritt. He regularly performs on Swedish and Danish national radio stations (P2).
As a chamber musician, Johan frequently collaborates with Nordic Percussion Group, TrioZOOM, O/Modernt, and in duo formations with Bjarke Mogensen and Justina Auskelyte.
At the age of 20, Johan began working as a substitute orchestral musician with the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra and has since regularly performed with around 15 Swedish and Danish orchestras. He has held contract positions as a percussionist in both the Royal Danish Orchestra and the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, where he most recently served as principal percussionist during the 2022/23 season.
In his pursuit of exploring and continuously developing the marimba, Johan acquired one of the world’s finest marimbas, *“The Artist Marimba”*, crafted by Doug DeMorrow, in the fall of 2023. This exceptional instrument, made with 61 rosewood bars selected between 2000 and 2012, is unique and exists in only one exemplar.
INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITY
Since 2004, Johan has been one of the Nordic region’s most sought-after percussion soloists and chamber musicians, performing as a soloist with symphony orchestras across Europe, Asia, and the Americas. He has appeared at venues such as the Mariinsky Theatre, National Concert Hall in Taipei, Venice Biennale, and in 2012, he made his U.S. debut at stages including Chicago Symphony Hall, the Music Centre at Strathmore, Washington, and Carnegie Hall.
Johan is regularly invited to festivals, primarily in Europe but also in Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and China. He also serves as a judge and examiner in competitions and evaluations worldwide.
PUBLICATIONS AND RECORDINGS
Johan Bridger - Percussion – Solo CD, 2005
Arena - Solo & Percussion Ensemble Music by Tobias Broström - Malmö Percussion Edition, 2008
Samsara by Tobias Broström, Double concerto - Violin & Marimba, 2012
Solisten! - Klassisk Musik för 2000-talets barn. Musik i Syd, 2014
Theatron by Tobias Broström, Double Percussion Concerto – MalleusIncus, 2019, 1st movement
Theatron by Tobias Broström, Double Percussion Concerto – MalleusIncus, 2019, 2nd-3rd movement