
Artist information
Sven Helbig's music is a virtuoso combination of traditional classical music, experimental electronica and pop. His ear for simple, captivating melodies, his well-trained classical arrangement technique and his sure hand for electronic sound creations create fascinating sound landscapes. With his concerts, he has inspired the audiences of the Barbican Center in London, the Volksbühne in Berlin, as well as the visitors of the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg.Now Sven is on tour with his Forrklang Quartet and is presenting his latest works as well as chamber music versions of well-known pieces.
Sven grew up in Eisenhüttenstadt, a planned city in Eastern Germany. As a child, this is where he discovered music from local brass bands, his parents’ vinyls and the few stations that he could pick up on his homemade radio. Electronic bricolage was his first passion and remained an element in his later music.
He started out learning clarinet and guitar, later moving on to drums. While studying music in Dresden, Sven Helbig also spent time in New York, where he jammed in the clubs of Mannhatten and Harlem.
The R&B and Gospel scene in New York offered a wholly new form of musical experience: the perfect unity between musician and audience that stems from the roots and traditions of the African-American community. This was a formative experience for Sven that continues to shape his music.
In 1996 he returned to Dresden and, together with musician Markus Rindt, established Europe’s first orchestra devoted exclusively to contemporary music, the Dresden Sinfoniker.He regularly orchestrates and arranges for the Pet Shop Boys, the balletThe MostIncredible Thingat London’s Sadler’s Wells Theatre as well asThe Man from theFuture, which celebrated its debut at the BBC Proms in the Royal Albert Hall.
With wide-ranging interests, he creates music with artists as disparate as Rammstein and the Fauré Quartett, Pet Shop Boys, opera singer René Pape and classical pianist Olga Scheps.The prestigious classic label Deutsche Grammophone released Sven Helbig’s debut album Pocket Symphonies.
His work for chorus and electronics I Eat The Sun And Drink The Rain, where he also composed the lyrics was released by German modern classic label Neue MeisterIn 2017, he was appointed Composer in Residence at the Enescu Festival in Bucharest, at the Spanish National Orchestra and Choir in Madrid and at the Moritzburg Chamber Music Festival. Sven is an honorary professor at the National University of General San Martin in Buenos Aires.
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Upcoming shows
No shows scheduled currently
Past shows
2018
Sven Helbig & Forrklang Quartet
Utrecht, TivoliVredenburg
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