Cecilia Damström (b. 1988) is a Finnish-Swedish composer whose multicultural and multilingual upbringing in Helsinki deeply informs her music. Known for its emotional intensity, drama, and harmonic richness, her work often carries a strong social and environmental message.

Her compositions tackle pressing global themes—Tundo! is dedicated to refugees, Nixus to mental health, and her environmentally themed works such as ICE (In Case of Emergency), Extinctions, Permafrost, and the children’s opera Planet of the Animals reflect her deep commitment to climate issues. She has been referred to as “the Greta Thunberg of music.”

In 2022, Damström became the first female classical composer to win the prestigious Teosto Prize for ICE, commissioned by the Lahti Symphony Orchestra during its tenure as European Green Capital. Her orchestral work Extinctions, commissioned by the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, is nominated for the 2024 Nordic Council Music Prize.

Her music also explores historical and feminist themes, such as in her trilogy of quintets inspired by Aino Sibelius, Minna Canth, and Helene Schjerfbeck.

Damström studied composition with Hannu Pohjannoro at Tampere University of Applied Sciences and later with Luca Francesconi at the Malmö Academy of Music. Since completing her studies, she has worked full-time as a composer, with a growing body of orchestral, chamber, choral, and operatic works. Upcoming commissions include a major orchestral work for the Helsinki Philharmonic and a full-length opera on a Sámi theme.

Her music is performed widely across Europe, North America, and at international festivals.
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Agneta Sköld is a Swedish composer, conductor, and church musician. She studied at the Stockholm Academy of Music, graduating as an organist in 1969 and as a cantor and music teacher in 1973. She later trained as a vocal soloist and has sung with both the Swedish Radio Choir and Eric Ericson's Chamber Choir. She has also taught at the Ingesund Academy of Music.

Since 1978, Sköld has worked as a church musician and has held a permanent position at Västerås Cathedral since 1991, serving as assistant cathedral organist with responsibility for the cathedral’s choir program. Under her leadership, the choir has achieved international recognition and success in numerous competitions.

In addition to her work as a conductor and educator, Sköld is an accomplished choral composer. Her contributions to Swedish musical life have been recognized with several awards, including Choir Leader of the Year (1998), the Johannes Norrby Medal, the Gustaf Aulén Prize, and cultural scholarships from both the County Administrative Board and the City of Västerås. She is also a member of the Västmanland Academy, where she holds chair no. 15.

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Elfrida Andrée was born on 19 February 1841 in Visby and died on 11 January 1929 in Gothenburg. She was the first woman in Sweden to graduate as an organist (1857−60) and to become a cathedral organist; she became organist of Gothenburg Cathedral in 1867 and remained so until she died. She studied composition with Ludvig Norman at the educational institution of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music (1860). As a composer of chamber music and symphonic works, she was a female pioneer in Sweden, and the same goes for her activity as an orchestral conductor. Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1879, Litteris et Artibus award in 1895, Idun ‘Women’s Academy’ fellowship in 1908.

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Rosali Grankull (b. 1984) is a composer and musician based in Gothenburg, working with acoustic instruments, objects, literature, microphones, and people. Her work explores the fragile line of instability in music, inviting unexpected questions and perspectives. She is particularly interested in the physical origins and stories of sound—how each sound stems from an action or movement—and in the dialogue between score, material, and performer.

Grankull often collaborates across artistic disciplines, seeking to expand where and how musical situations can occur. She has composed for wind and symphony orchestras, chamber ensembles, choirs, theatre, and dance, and has created sound installations in collaboration with textile artists, choreographers, ceramists, and others. Her work is performed both nationally and internationally.

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