Emmy Lindström (b. 1984) is a Swedish composer with a rapidly growing audience. Her music has been praised in the press and described as both emotional and moving, but it is also noted that her compositions contain humorous elements, all arranged and composed within a finely tuned balancing act. Emmy has a broad musical background and appreciates the deep roots that stem from the Swedish choral tradition, from classical music and also from jazz/folk/show/musical genres. She often surprises with new approaches in her music and often writes music based on written works; her own or existing ones such as Shakespeare, Lagercrantz, Lantz and others. Born and raised in Linköping, she started playing the violin at her own request at the age of 5, and wrote down her first composition when she was 8. In her teens, Emmy toured in Sweden, the Nordic countries and the USA with the chamber ensemble Coll’arco, under the direction of violinist Päivikki Wirkkala-Malmqvist. After studying music at De Geer High School in Norrköping, studies followed at the Gothenburg Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music in Stockholm.

Emmy Lindström’s music is in high demand. In the time of this writing, she has commissions from the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Östgötamusiken in Linköping and the Folkoperan in Stockholm. The latter has commissioned a full-scale Opera based on the book “The Gospel of the Eels” by Patrik Svensson. The premiere is scheduled for spring 2022.

In the spring of 2010, her Magnolia, for solo clarinet was performed throughout Europe during Emil Jonason’s tour as Rising Star. The work was commissioned by Jonason for this tour and was played on stages such as Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Wien MusikVerein, Cité de la Musique in Paris, Hamburg Laeiszhalle, L’Auditori in Barcelona and more. Jonason also played the work at Stockholm’s Concert Hall, around Sweden and it has also been broadcast on Swedish Radio P2. In season of 2017/18, Lindström’s newly composed clarinet concerto At the Hills of Hampstead Heath was commissioned and performed around Sweden by four orchestras. The work became very popular, and was broadcast several times in SR P2. For the work, she was also nominated for the Music Publishers’ Award Large Ensemble in the autumn of 2018. The work was the starting shot for her brilliant career as a composer of high rank in Sweden.

In the middle of the 00’s, Emmy worked for several years as a first violinist at Östgötateatern, and appeared both on and off stage in several productions. Her most notable appearance was in Joseph Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof, where she was the hub of the show and was cast as a mysterious, androgynous fiddler who both acted and played on stage. During the same period she composed for smaller ensembles; Tintomara, for guitar and flute was ordered by Haga Duo and has i.a. played on tour in Sweden and in Australia. This time can also be described as a bittersweet, melancholy and romantic period, in which she composed commissioned works such as Song About Em, In Memoriam (in memory of a childhood friend), Songs to Emelie (in memory of a family who died in the 2001 Tsunami) and Reflection, When I Turned Myself Inside Out (clarinet and piano, for Emil Jonason’s Diploma Concert at KMH).