Lasse Thoresen (b. 1949) is a composer and professor emeritus of composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music. His music has absorbed stylistic influences from archaic Norwegian folk music and ‘ethno-music’ in general, French spectral music and ‘Musique Concrete’, and from Harry Partch’s „Just Intonation.” While his music may be complex and stylistically varied, Thoresen has been especially concerned with articulating his intentions with a maximum of aural clarity.
He insists that music should reflect man’s existential and transcendental situation.
He has received commissions from all leading symphony orchestras in Norway and has composed several symphonic solo concertos for leading soloists. He was a resident composer with French Radio’s Festival Presences for three years. He has also a considerable chamber music production and has developed new approaches to vocal music through his collaborations with Nordic Voices and the Latvian Radio Choir.
He has received several prizes for his compositions both nationally and internationally, including the Nordic Council’s Music Prize in 2010. In 2019 he received the King’s medal of merit.
He has been professor of composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music for three decades, as well as guest professor with ESMUC (Barcelona) and McGill (Canada). His pioneering work on musical listening (Emergent Musical Forms.Aura] Explorations)has won wide international recognition.