Tobias Broström (b. 1978) began his musical career as a percussionist, and is known for his rhythmically powerful music, but also for his colorful orchestration and his distinct sense of harmony. The collaboration with the trumpeter Håkan Hardenberger has brought his music to the international stages. Today he is one of the most performed Scandinavian composers of his generation.
Tobias Broström studied percussion for four years at the Malmö Academy of Music before he began studying composition with Rolf Martinsson and then with the Italian composer, Professor Luca Franscesconi. The big breakthrough came with Arena – Percussion Concerto no. 1 (2004), which was written directly for soloist award winner Johan Bridger.
Between 2006 and 2009, Broström was composer-in-residence with the Gävle Symphony Orchestra. This commitment meant, among other things, that the orchestra premiered two newly written works per season. Among these is the trumpet concerto Lucernaris (2009) which Håkan Hardenberger subsequently played about 30 times with orchestras such as Detroit SO, BBC Philharmonic, Komische Oper Berlin and others. In 2019, the collaboration with Hardenberger continued with the double trumpet concerto Nigredo: Dark Night of the Soul, composed for Hardenberger and Belgian trumpeter Jeroen Berwaerts. The concert was a joint commission between Malmö SO, BBC3/BBC NOW and the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. It recieved its British premiere at the Royal Albert Hall during the BBC Proms in July 2019.
Nigredo is the first part in a trilogy of orchestral works inspired by alchemy and Jungian psychology. In September 2022, the second part, Symphony no. 1 – Albedo, was premiered, by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and Santtu-Matias Rouvali. The third part of the trilogy, Rubedo: The Red Chapter received its premiere with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic in connection with Broström's Composer's Weekend Festival in Stockholm 2023. Broström is currently composing his second symphony commissioned by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra.
Tobias Broström also composes chamber music, in addition to a long line of works for percussion, you will find his String Quartet No. 1 composed for the American string quartet Brooklyn Rider, a Piano Quintet, music for brass etc.
