BIOGRAPHY
One of the most frequently performed contemporary choral composers, Kim André Arnesen (b. 1980), is a classical composer from Trondheim, Norway. Although he was an avid follower of MTV and a huge fan of The Cure at ten years old, he also studied classical piano, sang as a chorister in the Nidaros Cathedral Boys’ Choir, and received his education at the Music Conservatory in Trondheim. With a deep interest in baroque, contemporary classical, and popular music, his musical career could have ventured down many paths; however, choral music became his greatest passion.
Kim's first major work, Magnificat, was commissioned and premiered by the Nidaros Cathedral Girls' Choir. Released by 2L in 2014, the work received rave reviews from prominent classical music magazines like Gramophone and Choir & Organ, and was nominated for a Grammy Award for 'Best surround recording'. His second album, 'Infinity: Choral Works' (Naxos), released in January 2018, reached No. 2 on iTunes' best-selling classical albums and No. 6 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Albums Charts.
Among Kim's most popular and globally performed choral pieces are Even when He is silent, Cradle Hymn, and Flight Song. His music has sold in six-figure numbers and has been performed in more than 50 countries.
Other notable works include his Requiem for Solace, commissioned by the Nidaros Cathedral Boys' Choir in 2014; The Wound in the Water, commissioned by the St. Olaf Festival in Trondheim and premiered by Conspirare, Elin Manahan Thomas and conductor Craig Hella Johnson in 2016; and Holy Spirit Mass, written to commemorate the 500-year anniversary of the Reformation in 2017 for the National Lutheran Choir. The European premiere took place in Rome at the opening of the 2018 International Festival of Sacred Music and Art. Tuvayhun - Beatitudes for a Wounded World was commissioned and premiered by the Manhattan Girls Chorus and conductor Michelle Oesterle in 2018, and its 2022 recording was nominated in two different Grammy categories.
Recent major works include Nordic Christmas, featuring arrangements of Nordic Christmas carols; Stabat Mater, commissioned by the Haderslev Cathedral Girls’ Choir in Denmark in 2020; and Nordlys, written for the World Choral Fest 2020. His most recent large-scale work, The Stranger, was commissioned and premiered by the Together in Hope Choir as the opening concert of the St Olaf Festival in Trondheim.
In 2020 and 2021, Kim released his first piano music on Decca Classics, with one of the singles, Winter Moon, reaching No. 1 on Apple Music's classical charts.
Recent collaborations include the BBC Singers, who commissioned and premiered Our Living Future in 2023, as well as world-renowned violinist and Hardanger fiddle player Ragnhild Hemsing for upcoming premieres in 2025 with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra.
Kim is an elected member of the Norwegian Composers Society and his music is published by prestigious music publishers such as Boosey & Hawkes, Walton Music, Santa Barbara Music Publishers, and Norsk Musikkforlag.
