of Lars J. Nilsson

I’m in Debrecen, Hungary, thursday to sunday singing with the St Jacobs Chamber Choir. Which me luck.

So, I’m on YouTube for the first time. Well, actually it is together with a bunch of other persons. And to be honest, the camera actually manages to miss me completely with the exception of me left hand entering picture at one time. Other than that, stardom here I come!I should perhaps be a tiny bit clearer. I’m talking about St Jacobs Chamber Choir. At the festival Musica Sacra in Marktoberdorf, Germany.Knut Nysted, Es sollen wohl Berge weichen. Pump up the volume before listening to this. Really. It is supposed to be rather large and loud. It feels like its been ever so slightly compressed in this recording. Also you can’t hear much of the text, but I’m not sure you can blame that on the recording, I’m afraid St Jacobs isn’t always texting as well as we should. But I really like the pice, I’d love to sing it again.Sven-David Sandström, Komm, Jesu komm. I’m not a huge Sandström fan. And this isn’t my favourite pice either. But it is a rather typical Sandström, for good and bad. It was commissioned by St Jacobs for their 25th anniversary. Double choir. Inspired by Bach. Ending with a very beautiful motett. Again, just a bit clearer text would have been nice.Lastly, an improvisation over traditional Den blomstertid nu kommer. Not my cup of tea at all. But St Jacobs have been doing it for a while and the audience, sitting sorrounded by the choir standing after the walls, or simply spread out, in the hall, seems to love it. There you go. Enjoy.

I spent the Weekend at Torpshammar with St Jacobs Chamber Choir. And would you believe it? The proprietors were all whisky fanatics. Or sort of anyway. And they had this thing for Duncan Taylor & Co Ltd. Which is, of course, completely understandable. So, among other things I tasted:

• Invergordon, 39YO (Grain / Highland / Duncan Taylor)
• Bunnahabhain, 33YO (Malt / Islay / Duncan Taylor)
• Bruichladdich, 37YO (Malt / Islay / Duncan Taylor)
• Johnnie Walker Green Label (Vatted Malt)
• Duncan Taylor Regional Blended; Islay (Vatted Malt / Islay)
• Duncan Taylor “The Big Smoke” (Vatted Malt / Islay)

Whee!

I spent new years eve with V+R and guests. They had this little “game” for the evening. Month by month everyone attending had to detail what they had done that particular month. Quite interesting actually. And even though my memory isn’t the best (I mean, who remembers what month easter was in? eh?) it made me realize that I’ve been wuite buzy after all.So without further ado, here’s some of the things I did 2006:Moved from Gothenburg to Stockholm. Started a new job (Tain). Started in 2 new choirs (St Jacobs Chamber Choir and Gustaf Sjökvist Chamber Choir). Subsequently left one of them (Sjökvist). Left Pro Musica Chamber Choir. Sang on the kings 60th birthday. Spent some time in Budapest. Toured Germany, Taiwan and Hong Kong. Did 3 tours in Sweden (Tällberg, Leksand, Växjö, Helsingborg, Stockholm, Mamlö, Gothenburg etc). Became press secretary / webmaster / lighting designer / driver for Båstad Chamber Music Festival. Went hiking 2 times (Hemavan, Grövelsjön). Left a job (Tain). Started yet another job (NetEntertainment). Recorded Missa Lorca by Corrado Margutti (including the solo baritone voice). Did a total of 18 christmas concerts.And so on…It’s been a good year.