The string quartet AKELA releases their first album
One of the quartets is dedicated to AKELA, who wishes to share Sune Kølster’s music and has therefore chosen to release this album.
“It has been an exciting journey since our first meeting with Sune three years ago, where we experienced a strong connection, to today, where we finally hold the record in our hands. It’s both our first release and our first close collaboration with a composer who has dedicated a work to us. Through Kølster’s music, working with quarter tones has opened up a heightened awareness of intonation. This has strengthened our musical expression and our tonal palette,” says Gustav Ranum, violinist in AKELA.
AKELA was formed at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2019. The four members — Clara Glasdam, Kirsten Wilbrandt, Oskar Reuben Friis-Hansen, and Gustav Ranum — study as an ensemble in the soloist class under the guidance of Professor Tim Frederiksen and the Danish String Quartet.
“As an ensemble, it has been crucial for us to have instruction at RDAM, both from Tim Frederiksen and the Danish String Quartet. We formed the quartet at the Academy and have been part of its daily life for many years. Recording in the Academy Concert Hall was a significant experience, and we are thrilled to finally release Sune Kølster’s music, which has come to mean so much to us,” says Gustav Ranum.
The release includes both CD and vinyl formats, and the single is already available on streaming platforms under AKELA Quartet. To mark the release, AKELA will hold a release concert at Musikhuset in Copenhagen on November 29, 2024.
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Photo: Benedicte Hald
