Kerstin Ståhl

Sweden, b. 1944.

At seven, singing lessons. 1958 Stockholms operettskola, stage acting, singing and dancing. Touring with artists like Ove Törnkvist, Hasse Funck, Berith Bohm. Musikhögskolan Ingesund. Musikhögskolan in Stockholm, solo singing. Co-operation with students in composition and musicians in contemporary music.

First concert: Included songs by Karl-Birger Blomdahl. Aarhus, Denmark 1962.

Initiated by teachers at Musikhögskolan, e.g. Ingvar Lindholm and Bo Wallner, an ensemble for new music was named after a medieval ballad, Harpans kraft.

I have worked with interpretations of both older music, e.g. Elizabethan songs, and contemporary music. I worked with composers in -electroacoustic music, resulting in performances with recorded music and live-electronics, where the voice is momentarily combined with or processed by electronic devices, or in recorded compositions, where my contribution was voice materials. In all this my interest in improvisation has been important.

With such works I have performed all over Sweden as well as on tours and at festivals in Europe, North and South America.

In recent years I have worked with radio broadcasting in Sweden, and produced sound books and some songs. My voice gets older, I don’t.