Sofia Jernberg

B. 1983 in Ethiopia. Lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Studied voice training and improvisation at Södra Latins gymnasium and Fridhems Folkhögskola, composition at Gotlands tonsättarskola.

First pieces: From Under, string trio and voice and How come?, four woodwinds and voice. (2001).

Singer, composer and lyric writer. Sofia’s work as an improvising singer is very open, she explores extended voice techniques and works together with free improvising instrumentalists. As a composer writing for classically trained musicians she prefers to be precise. When writing for improvising musicians, she can sometimes blend the notated parts with a more open scoring, where there is room for improvisation.

Together with pianist Cecilia Persson she co-leads the group “paavo”. Both Sofia and Cecilia write pieces for “paavo” (although not together) and that group is an example of how free improvised and notated music can interact. “paavo” released their debut record on Apart Records in 2007.

sofiajernberg@hotmail.com