Honorary Professor at The Royal Danish Academy of Music

It is with great pleasure and pride that I announce Hans Abrahamsen’s acceptance of his appointment as Honorary Professor at RDAM from January 1 2018, initially for a five-year period.

Throughout his career, which stretches back to his breakthrough as a young boy in the early 1970s, Hans Abrahamsen has been a distinctive presence in contemporary Danish music and one of his generations’ leading figures. In the decades following his break-through, international interest in Hans Abrahamsen's music grew giving rise to commissions from leading European ensembles and orchestras such as London Sinfonietta and Berlin Philharmonic (Nacht und Trompeten in 1981). Within the last 15-20 years, he has become one of the most important actors on the international scene as well as an inspiration and model for many young composers. A few milestones during these years are the ensemble Schnee from 2006-8 commissioned by Westdeutscher Rundfunk, and Let me tell you from 2013 for soprano and orchestra commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic. In 2016, he was awarded both the Nordic Council Music Prize and the highly regarded Grawemeyer Award for Musical Composition for the work Let me tell you.

In connection with his international career, Hans Abrahamsen has regularly held seminars, master classes and shorter teaching courses in composition at prominent academies and universities in Europe and the United States. Because of this experience, it is of great value to RDAM, in particular to RDAM’s Composition students, that he has now been appointed Honorary Professor in Composition. Hans Abrahamsen has previously also been associated with RDAM as Associate Professor in composition and instrumentation.

The title Honorary Professor is an honorary title and there are as such no formal duties attached. At universities, honorary professors usually hold lectures or conduct similar activities. In the context of music academies, honorary professors typically give master classes, contribute to concert performances, and the like. In addition, Hans Abrahamsen will be an inspiration to the Academy’s students and act as a kind of ambassador of RDAM.

Yours faithfully,

Bertel Krarup
President

Photo: Lars Skaaning