Per Christian Arnesen

Per Christian Arnesen is born October 5th 1966 in Oslo, Norway, and is resident in Hvasser, Norway. He studied philosophy and law at the University in Oslo, with degrees in both subjects. He started to compose music at the age of 12, and studied music, arranging, harmony and composition in college. Mostly he is self-taught as a composer. Arnesen has studied conducting by the Norwegian conductor Kjell Seim. He plays clarinet, contrabass and electric bass, and has wide experience in arranging popular music for different band-settings with woodwinds and brass.

Arnesen has composed chamber music for strings, sinfoniettas, and chamber ensembles, piano, big band and symphonic band.  His clarinet quintet Clarimorphose (1991) has been performed several times in Norway, and also in Lithuania and Los Angeles. His published march for symphonic band, Annis Aureus Norwegicus (Norsk Musikkforlag AS 2014), was composed for the 200-years anniversary of the Norwegian constitution, and had its premiere in September 2014. Piano Accepted for Sinfonietta will have its first premiere in October 2016 in Sydney, and will be recorded this June by ABLAZE Records in their Sinfonia Series, together with Seven Fragments for Pierrot Ensemble in their Pierrot Ensemble Series.

In 2007 Arnesen established and conducted Vestfold Sinfonietta, an ensemble with only professional musicians, together with his long-time friend, the international clarinet soloist, Roger Arve Vigulf, and Ole Böhn, the former concertmaster at The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra in Oslo.

Arnesen is a member of Tono, the Norwegian collection society / performing rights organization. His works is published through the Music Information Centre in Norway / Music Norway, and the publisher Norsk Musikkforlag AS, Oslo. He has received support from The Norwegian Composer Association.

Arnesens ambition in submitting to RMN Music is to open up new possibilities so that his music can be recognized and performed.