Biography

“It’s not fusion – it’s Dúneresque – a newly created genre!” Grammy Award winning recording producer Michael Haas.

Sophie Dunér is a singer & composer with her roots in jazz. Originally from Sweden, she travels and performs internationally as her blend of jazz, world and contemporary classical writing receives demand worldwide – from the infamous CBGB´s in NYC to Buenos Aires Festival de Música Contemporánea La Plata to Festival O/Modernt in Sweden.

As a result of her award winning singer & composer audition, Sophie was selected to perform at the ‘Laureate Gala’ at the Weill Concert Hall/Carnegie Hall in NYC on November 21 2023, produced by Progessive Musicians & Sound Espressivo. She collaborated with pianist Chris Au as well as with string quartet members from The New York Chamber Players Orchestra, led by Maestro Giacomo Franci. Sophie  was also interviewed by legendary radio host Steve Robinsson at Piano Piano Studios in Manhattan.

CD’s include ‘Strictly Business’ (solo CD produced by Darren Allison 2022),  ‘The City of My Soul’ (with The Callino string Quartet, produced by  Michael Haas /PARMA Recordings 2013), ‘The City of Dizzy’ (with Jeremy Harman 2016), ‘Songs Eclectic’ (with Gene Pritsker 2020), ‘The Rain in Spain’ (Rory Stuart, Matt Penmann & Kahlil Qwame Bell, CIMP 2005). Sophie also recorded a CD of standards in 2014 together with the late, legendary avant garde jazz bassist Dominic Duval (who spent a decade with Cecil Taylor). 

Her music may be described as a blend of the romantic and the spiritually elevated with a dissonant, bold and satirical edge, playing with tense colours resolving into romantic harmony or vice versa. Often, it’s loud and dynamic With musical roots in jazz, Sophie personally draws heavily on a variety of composers such as Kurt Weill, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Hans Werner Henze, Dizzy Gillespie & Stravinsky.

Festivals include November Music Festival (N.L), The 13th & 14th Charles Mingus Virtual Festival, AddAmovie Film Festival, The 11th Annual CompCord Festival, PARMA Music Festival (US), Bimbache Open Art Festival, Jazz en La Costa, Getxo Jazz Festival, Festival de Jazz de Lugo(ES), Baltic Jazz Festival (SF), Sapporo Snow Festival (JP), Stockholm New Music Festival, Stockholm Jazz Festival (SWE), The 11th Annual CompCord Festival (NYC) etc.

Tours include dates at venues such as NYC’s The ShapeShifter Lab, Cornelia St Cafe, Symphony Space, Small’s, The Bop Shop, Birdland, The Delancey, Players Theatre etc. Europe includes dates at Sowieso/Neukoln (DE), Moods (CH), The Pizza Express (UK), Circulo de Bellas Artes (ES), Gothenburg Symphony Hall (SWE), Concertgebouw , Tivoli Vredenburg (NL) etc. 

As a singer & composer, Sophie has had collaborations with musicians such as Dominic Duval Sr, Matt Penmann, Rory Stuart, Gene Pritsker, Kahlil Kwame Bell, Donny McCaslin, Tommy Campbell, Gerry Brown, Steve Hamilton, Sébastien Dubé, Samuel Torres, Paul Nowinski, Bertram Lehman, Carli Munoz, Guy Livingston, Eleonor Sandresky, Cynthia Yeh, Dick Griffin, Valery Ponomarev, Melissa Slocum, Leif Jordansson, Jürg Wickihalder, Hugo Ticciati etc. and composers José Luís Greco, Francis Schwartz (composers who wrote ‘Checkmate My Love’ & ‘The Neon Pterodactyl’ for her), Henk Alkema as well as with Jacob TV.

At the recommendation of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sophie studied vocal interpretation at the Stockhausen summer Courses in Kuerten, Germany for two years, supported by a grant from The Swedish Arts Council. She also studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, earning a degree in Performance, studying jazz improvisation with Hal Crook, George Garzone & Ed Tomassi. While in Boston, she performed & recorded with jazz groups such as The Herb Pomeroy Big Band, Guillermo Klein & The Big Van (featuring Seamus Blake, Mark Turner & Aaron Goldberg). In N.Y, with Fernando Tarrés (featuring Dan Rieser, Fernando Huergo & Don McCaslin). She also founded The Sophie Dunér Orchestra, touring in the Boston area, Scandinavia & Japan. The Swedish Arts Council awarded Sophie grants on 4 occasions and her CDs are 2 time award winners in The Art Music Lounge (USA) as well as beng on the ‘Best of The Year list’ in LIRA (SWE).

She has been featured ‘Composer in Residence’ for the annual chamber concerts event “In The Avant Garden of Love” at Jan Serr Studios with the new music group/organisation Present Music, led by co-artistic directors violinist Eric Segnitz (Kepler Quartet) & conductor David Bloom (Contemporaneous) in Milwaukee. She also performed live as featured guest artist for the online event series “Virtual Hotenanny” #1, #2, #3 & #4, presented by Present Music. 

TV & Radio include NPR Wisconsin (Bonnie North’s Lake Effect), WJFF Radio Catskill (Monday Afternoon Classics with Gandalf), Arts Avenue (Wisconsin TV), WMSE’s Dr. Sushi’s Free Jazz BBQ , BOLD TV, Talk Music Talk with Boice (NYC), Radio Guy Live (NL), TV4, SR (Sweden), Como Lo Oyes (RNE) Beneath  the Underground with John Pietaro/XX-Centric Behaviour with Laurie Towers/WFMU (NYC) etc.

She has been a frequent collaborator with the NYC based composers collective ‘Composers Concordance’. In March & November 2021, her short films “Distorted Souls” (featuring ‘Believe Her’ with Sebastien Dubé) & “When the saints go marching in” (featuring Eleonor Sandresky on piano & arrangement) were premiered during the Harlem based online AddAMovie Film Festival.

During February 2022, she toured performing & premiering her audiovisual solo show ‘Bop ’Til You Drop’ & ‘Strictly Business’ in the UK. A tour organized by MOOT.

In November 2021, Sophie was featured singer with Dutch composer Jacob TV & The Freedom Quartet (including Stephen Burns, Steve Roberts & Cynthia Yeh), premiering Jacob’s ‘The Freedom Songs’, touring Holland at November Music Festival, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw & Tivoli Vredenburg in Utrecht. 

During September 2023, Sophie joined composer & reed player Daniel Schnyder for the workshop & concert ‘The Other Concert’ at Moods Jazz Club in Zürich, Switzerland.  She also premiered her solo project ‘Strictly Business’ at The Glenn Miller Café in Stockholm, Sweden.

During November 2023, Sophie had a composer feature in renown composer Clarice Assad’s ‘TAPESTRY’ / The Mosaic Project, premiered at the ‘Mainly Mozart Festival’ in San Diego, USA.

Sophie was recently awarded a $ 5000 composer scholarship from STIM, The Swedish Performing Rights  Society.