Kjell Perder's music has been performed in nearly 20 countries in Europe, Asia, North and South America and is represented on several record labels. Perder's list of works includes five operas, oratorio music, chamber music and orchestral music, but he is above all known for his many choral works, where the tonal language is colored by his strong pathos and commitment to above all climate issues and humanity.
Kjell Perder was born in Tjärstad, Östergötland in 1954 and grew up in a free religious home. After studies in, among other things, musicology at Uppsala University, he came to the Academy of Music in Stockholm, where he graduated in 1983 as a music teacher. In 1984–88 he continued his studies in the composition class for, among others, Arne Mellnäs, Sven-David Sandström and Brian Ferneyhough. He was awarded scholarships abroad in 1986–87 and then studied composition with Professor John Lambert at the Royal College of Music in London.
The composer's debut took place already in 1980 with a chamber music piece performed at the festival for Young Nordic Music (UNM) in Helsinki. Since then, Perder's music has been performed in large parts of the world and is represented on the record labels Phono Suecia, Daphne Records and dB Records. His choral music has been published by several publishers.
Kjell Perder has received composition commissions from the Royal Opera, Sveriges Radio, Rikskonserter, Länsmusiken i Blekinge, NOMUS, Orphei Drängar, Bergslagens Kammarsymfoniker, Mirror Visions and others and has been awarded several cultural awards.
In 1993, his composition wonFar beyond…for mixed choir and solo trombone or violoncello first prize in a composition competition organized by the choir meeting in Skinnskatteberg and in 1995 his radio opera took partThe mountainin the Prix Italia and won a "special honorable mention". In 2008 he represented Sweden in the International Rostrum of Composers with the orchestral workReclaim The Rhythm. Perder's running gearLiberate mewas selected in 2017 for the ISCM World New Music Festival in Vancouver.
In addition to composing, he has taught composition, music theory and music history at, among others, SMI, Uppsala University and the Academy of Music in Örebro. Between 1992 and 1996 and 2007–2013 he was a lecturer at the Academy of Music in Stockholm, but now composes full time.
