The composer, conductor and project leader Bo Holten (°1948) is known both within Denmark and abroad as a multi-faceted musician. He himself does not regard one activity more important than the other. “What matters is what I am doing at the moment; I don’t consider any of my positions primary or secondary. Thus I am not primarily a composer or primarily a conductor, but I try to concentrate fully on whatever I am doing at any given time. The musical scene increasingly demands a certain degree of specialisation, but personally I have never felt the need to limit myself to one or another niche.”

As a composer, Bo Holten is renowned for both his instrumental and his vocal music. At the same time, he is often regarded in the contemporary musical milieu as quite provocative, by his resistance to many modern currents of the second half of the 20th century. With the vocal ensemble he founded, Ars Nova, he has devoted particular attention to performing a large part of the modernist repertoire.
 
Although Bo Holten, who is currently conductor of the Danish ensemble Musica Ficta, has resisted specialisation, he has won international recognition for his pioneering work in rediscovering many forgotten Renaissance polyphonists such as Gombert, De Wert and La Rue. His trademark for the performance of this style of music is to combine the traditional “cool” tones of vocal polyphony with a warmer but transparent Scandinavian sound. From September 2008 he will be principal conductor of the Flemish Radio Choir, and with this ensemble will be exploring the full chamber choir repertoire from the Renaissance to the present.

Holten’s work as an orchestral conductor is closely linked to his output as a composer: he conducted the premiere of a considerable number of his own orchestral works, such as his last three operas Operation: Orfeo (1993), Maria Paradis (1999) and Gesualdo (2003), his oboe concerto (1997), the dramatic cantata Imperia (1995) and his orchestration of Carl Nielsen’s Commotio. At the moment he is writing a new opera, which will be premiered under his baton in the brand new opera house in Copenhagen.
 
Bo Holten has understood as few others have how to make a difference, both with his compositions and with his performances. Whether or not you agree with him, you cannot ignore him, thanks to his unique position in today’s musical world.