In May 2025, Västerås Sinfonietta embarks on a concert tour with Fractal Music by Swedish composer Britta Byström including performances in Västerås, Copenhagen, Dresden and Bielefeld, with Simon Crawford-Phillips conducting. Västerås Sinfonietta is one of Sweden’s oldest orchestras dating back from 1883.
The tour begins at Västerås Konserthus on May 8, followed by the Danish premiere on May 9 at the Royal Danish Academy of Music. The Copenhagen concert is presented as part of Series of Four, the Danish String Quartet’s critically acclaimed international concert series that combines serious chamber music with an informal tone—often served alongside craft beer and a welcoming atmosphere. Concerts in Germany follow on May 10 at the Frauenkirche in Dresden and on May 11 at the Rudolf Oetker Halle in Bielefeld.
Fractal Music draws inspiration from nature’s repeating forms and the geometric fractals described by Benoit Mandelbrot as well as from Per Nørgård’s infinity series.
Britta Byström says about the work:
My piece ”Fractal music” is built on musical fractal patterns: An identical musical figure will appear – often simultaneously – in different tempos (for instance one layer in half notes, one in quarter notes, one in eighth notes). I have also been inspired by the Danish composer Per Nørgård’s infinity series – here in its most basic form, applied on two notes only, which brings forward the fractal dimension within Nørgård’s infinity system. With those quite strict tools, I have played a fascinating game, trying to combine fractal structures with musical fantasy.
