John Persen (1941-2014) was a Lapp born in Porsanger, Finnmark — the northernmost county in Norway — in 1941. He had a varied background as musician, teacher and agriculturist in Finnmark before he began studying music at the Oslo Music Conservatory in 1968. He studied composition with Finn Mortensen and took his diploma at the then established State Academy of Music in 1973. Persen represents the school of sound experimentism which has its origin in composers like Penderecki and Ligeti.…
John Persen (1941-2014) was a Lapp born in Porsanger, Finnmark — the northernmost county in Norway — in 1941. He had a varied background as musician, teacher and agriculturist in Finnmark before he began studying music at the Oslo Music Conservatory in 1968. He studied composition with Finn Mortensen and took his diploma at the then established State Academy of Music in 1973. Persen represents the school of sound experimentism which has its origin in composers like Penderecki and Ligeti. His compositions include ochestral works such as Øre-verk (the title is a pun, and can be translated as Ear-ache or Ear Oeuvre), Ochestral Work II and CSV (1976), chamber works such as Et cetera! (1986/87), Than for mixed choir, two narrators and tape (1986), and the opera Under Cross and Crown, 1978-85).
Parallell to his work as a composer Persen has also been active in many cultural and political contexts. He was in the vanguard of the activists of the Norwegian Artists´ Action in 1974 which put the living conditions of the Norwegian artists on the agenda for the Norwegian politicians. At the same time he was chairman for Ny Musikk (the Norwegian section of ISCM), and organized a broad presentation of contemporary music.
John Persen was the founder and first Festival Director of the ULTIMA Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. For this he got in 1996 the Oslo City Cultural ward.
https://www.johnpersen.no/