about

Thomas Sandberg

(b. 1967)

Actor, singer, performer, percussionist, composer, producer, software designer etc.,

Trained at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and plays a central role on the new musical and theatrical / dramatical scene in Denmark.

As a soloist he has made a strong impact by among other things mixing music and drama in productions at several Copenhagen theatres, and with this mix he has also created a number of solo productions. In 1998 he received the Prize of the Danish Music Critics.

To date he has appeared in premieres of more than 100 new pieces in the genres : music, theatre, dance, performance etc. He has performed in many radio and TV productions, participated in CD recordings and given concerts and performances all over Denmark and the rest of Scandinavia as well as in Germany, Switzerland, France, Britain, Malaysia and the USA. As a composer he has created music for theatre and dance productions as well as solo works and instrumental theatre works for his own use.

He is a co-founder and member of several ensembles in different genres, including Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, which is at present (2000-2003) functioning as the Danish State Ensemble.

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reviews

The percussionist Thomas Sandberg has developed a technical playing level and an artistic overview that enables him to coordinate hands and feet in patterns of rhythm and execute single details with a timing that only a few can do him after…...Anders Beyer, Information (Danish Newspaper)

The music just flows from Thomas Sandberg in the most natural way. It is added with a skill and a professional compromiseless apperance which is impressive. He does not only have a sense of the
dramatical parts of the music but also of the musicality of the drama……
Jakob Wivel, Jyllands – Posten (Danish Newspaper)

Friday’s North American premiere was a much-anticipated event which, unlike many such, did not dissapoint and, in fact, exceeded expectations. Thomas Sandberg was mesmerising. On This Planet is a great musical, dramatic and theatrical experience. Don’t miss it !….. Deryk Barker, Music in Victoria

Musical tomfoolery. Unique percussion talent is creating a new kind of music theatre. Thomas Sandberg is one of the younger generation’s most talented percussion soloists. Now he unleashes his talent for clowning around in a funny and refreshing presentation that aroused enthusiasm among the public attending the premiere. Sandberg’s priceless mimicry succeeds in making the performance work as a comic number, even in the tragic end…..Jan Jacoby, Politiken ( Danish Newspaper)

Sandberg is our funniest percussionist. Seated on a chair between two microphones, the percussionist proceeded to widen our horizons about what music is, about what percussion playing involves and about what it is that is basically funny. A sniffle became an upbeat, a puzzled look out into the room paved the way for the coming comic accent. A tapping on his imaginary watch along with a helplessly gaping look at the same followed by another just-as-expressively-musical tapping with the palm of his hand on his forehead.
The event was “cross-over”, with the explicit intention to do just that. This was art situated somewhere in between stand-up comedy, improvisational music, new compositional music and theater. Sandberg’s broad-shouldered body with the almost crew-cut hair and the square-shaped face is a drum that can get all your funny bones to start palpitating. Helplessly stomping feet, incessantly jumping up and down on the chair. After the performance of a number of different new works for percussion, even the sound of the revolving door at the egress of the Radio House became music to the ears of this critic’s charged-up ears.
…..Thomas Michelsen, Politiken (Danish Newspaper)

A true multi-talent. Musician, composer, actor, entertainer … that’s how Thomas Sandberg presented himself at his own debut concert on the occasion of the completion of his studies at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory the other night. After two and a half hours of breathless and experientially-saturated entertainment we were utterly convinced that this multi-artist is a multi-talent of the first order. He can tackle complicated modern percussion works with the interactive computer. He can work in the boundary region situated between modern jazz and composition music. And with bravura, he managed to pull off the role of shopkeeper, mountebank and seducer Mads Kram in stiff competition with the two professional actors, Søren Dalsberg and Niels Andersen, who played the roles of H.C. Andersen and Søren Kierkegaard in the performance of “Andersen’s Kierkegaard. …..Jens Brincker, Berlingske Tidende (Danish Newspaper)

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