O/Modernt Chamber Orchestra

Sweden's O/Modernt chamber orchestra is one of Europe's most adventurous ensembles, aiming to perform eclectic, genre-crossing programs and to combine the past and the present in inventive ways. The group was founded and is led by violinist and conductor Hugo Ticciati, whose philosophical approaches it has embodied. Ticciati founded O/Modernt in 2011, drawing its membership from among top young players around Europe. The name O/Modernt in Swedish could be translated as "un-modern," and indeed for all its experimentation, the group generally includes older works in its music-making, although it may reinterpret them substantially. The group has commissioned more than 50 new works but has also performed arrangements of medieval motets. The group's commissioning activities have included artwork and printed materials as well as music. O/Modernt has attracted various international-level soloists from the classical world, including Evelyn Glennie, Annie Sofie von Otter, and Steven Isserlis, as well as jazz players, rappers, dancers, and performance artists of various kinds. Based in Stockholm in the Rococo-era theatre Confidencen, O/Modernt has also appeared in top European venues including Wigmore Hall, the Konzerthaus in Berlin, and the Wiener Musikverein. In addition to the orchestra, O/Modernt encompasses several other projects and ensembles. The Festival O/Modernt is a weeklong summer event in Stockholm that takes, as a starting point, the work of a composer from around the time of origin of the Confidencen theatre (1753) and expands upon it thematically. An O/Modernt string quartet includes Ticciati, violinist Daniel Rowland, violist Gareth Lubbe, and cellist Julian Arp. Lastly, O/Modernt undertakes educational activities in conjunction with the Lilla Akademien music school in Stockholm; other outreach programs have taken the group to the UK and further afield to India. O/Modernt has appeared with Ticciati on two recordings released on the Signum Classics label, White Light: The Space Between (2018) and From the Ground Up: The Chaconne (2019).
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