Arnold Ludvig, Sandur, Faroe Islands – (MA.MUS) – born in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, on Feb. 27th, 1968.
Bassist since 1980, jazz composer since 1991 and classical composer since 2014, Arnold started playing with the iconic Faroese progressive jazz-rock band, Plúmm, in 1984 and began playing jazz in the late 80’s. His first 3 jazz compositions were released with Plúmm & Holger Laumann, in 1991. He studied jazz at FÍH in Reykjavik, Iceland from 1990-93 and received a scholarship in 1992 and furthered his jazz studies at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, from 1993-95. He earned his living as a much in demand, free-lance musician in Montreal, from 1995-2003.
Arnold continued his professional work as a bassist in the Faroe Islands and Denmark from 2003-2014 earning the Best Bassist award at the Atlantic Music Event with GoGo Blues in 2005. In 2012, he founded Arnold Ludvig Sextet and released two jazz albums, “VOYAGES” in 2013 and “ICELAND” in 2016. Both albums, with Arnold’s original compositions, received great reviews from GAFFA (Dk) and JazzSpecial (Dk). The “ICELAND” album was nominated for two Faroese Music Awards in 2017.
In 2014, upon request from Felagið Føroysk Tónaskøld (The Association of Faroese Composers), Arnold was commissioned to compose new music for performances at the annual Summartónar Festival in the Faroe Islands. He composed his first classical piece “KNÚKUR” for flute and piano in 2015, performed and recorded by Nikolas Demopoulos (flute) and Panayiotis Demopoulos (piano) during the 2015 Summartónar Festival. “KNÚKUR” features on the 2016 compilation album, “SNJÓLÝSI”, on Tutl Records with Faroese composers Kári Bæk, Kristian Blak, Sámal Jákup Jacobsen, Pauli í Sandageri, Teitur Lassen, Arnold Ludvig, Kim Kristensen and Atli Kárason Petersen.
Arnold has since then composed on average one new piece annually for Summartónar. His works in 2016 include “Brotið, ið fór við Einseminum” for soprano, violin and piano, performed by Svafa Þórhallsdóttir (vocal), Hrönn þráindóttir (piano), Angelika Nielsen (violin), and “Sirkus Skálavík” for alto saxophone, Bb trumpet and trombone, performed by Trio Ovis with Sofie Brems Sørensen (trumpet), Kristina Thede Johansen (saxophone) and Maria Wang Reinert (trombone). In 2017, Arnold composed “Sedem Gore” for clarinet and piano, performed by Jože Kotar (clarinet) and Luca Ferrini (piano). In 2018, he composed “Influential Hallucination” for piano and percussion, performed by the renowned PASSEPARTOUT DUO with Nicoletta Favari (piano) and Christopher Salvito (percussion).
In 2018, the Estonian Composers’ Union (ECU) received over 500 submissions from all over the world for the annual ISCM (International Society for Contemporary Music) World New Music Days 2019, which took place in Tallinn, Estonia. Arnold´s composition “Gróthúsvatn” was among three works selected for performance, representing the Faroe Islands.
Arnold began his two year studies in 2017 for a NAIP European Master of Music degree at Iceland University of the Arts (IUA) in Reykjavík. He wrote his final thesis “The Fragility of Faroese Jazz” in the spring of 2019 and graduated with his MA.MUS degree at IUA in June 2019.
Arnold Ludvig is also a pop/rock composer, please visit this site to view his pop/rock profile: Arnold Ludvig – Jazz, pop/rock composer
Arnold Ludvig - Classical Compositions Worklist
| Title | Instument | Year | Duration (min) | Publisher | Recording |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Influential Hallucination Full Score Piano Drum Set and Glockenspiel | piano and percussion | 2018 | 5 | manus | |
| Sedem Gore Score and Parts Piano Clarinet | clarinet and piano | 2017 | 4:15 | manus | |
| Sirkus Skálavík Score and Parts Saxophone Trombone Trumpet | Bb trumpet, alto saxophone and trombone | 2016 | 3 | manus | |
| Brotið, ið fór við Eiseminum Score and Parts Piano Violin Soprano | soprano, violin and piano | 2016 | 4:30 | manus | |
| Knúkur – Opus 1 Score for Flute & Piano Piano Flute | fl, pno | 2015 | 5 | manus |
