Uppsala University. Photo: This image was produced by me, David Castor ( user:dcastor ), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Universitas_Regia_Upsaliensis.jpg)
Career
Gallery of Stefan Parkman
Berlin University of the Arts. Photo: Fridolin freudenfett (Peter Kuley), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CharlottenburgHardenbergstra%C3%9FeUDK.jpg)
Uppsala University. Photo: This image was produced by me, David Castor ( user:dcastor ), CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Universitas_Regia_Upsaliensis.jpg)
Berlin University of the Arts. Photo: Fridolin freudenfett (Peter Kuley), CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CharlottenburgHardenbergstra%C3%9FeUDK.jpg)
Stefan M. Parkman is a Swedish conductor, choral director, and university professor known for leading major Nordic and German radio choirs, the Uppsala Academy Chamber Choir, and other vocal ensembles. His career combines performance, teaching, international guest conducting, recording, and leadership in Swedish musical institutions.
Background
Stefan Parkman was born on June 22, 1952, in Uppsala, Sweden, to Allan and Catharina Parkman. Uppsala has long been one of Sweden's principal centers of ecclesiastical, academic, and musical life, shaped by its cathedral and university traditions.
Parkman began his musical development as a singer and later pursued conducting. His early association with the Uppsala Cathedral Boys' Choir placed him within a Swedish choral tradition closely connected with cathedral music, youth training, and the work of conductor Eric Ericson.
Education
Parkman studied musicology at Uppsala University and received a degree in 1974. Uppsala University, founded in 1477, is Sweden's oldest university and has long supported advanced study in the humanities, sciences, and musicology.
He continued his musical training at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, completing a degree in 1983. At the college he studied singing, violin, choral conducting with Eric Ericson, and orchestral conducting with Jorma Panula. The institution, founded in 1771, is Sweden's leading specialist conservatory and has played a central role in the country's professional musical education.
Parkman began conducting choirs in Sweden and became conductor of the Uppsala Academy Chamber Choir in 1983, a position that established a long-term connection with one of the country's prominent academic ensembles. He also conducted the Uppsala Cathedral Boys' Choir and led the Royal Philharmonic Choir in Stockholm from 1985 to 1993. The Royal Philharmonic Choir is associated with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and with Stockholm's major concert life.
From 1989 to 2002, Parkman was chief conductor of the Danish National Radio Choir in Copenhagen. The choir is Denmark's principal professional radio choir and works within the Danish Broadcasting Corporation's orchestral and vocal music organizations. During this period Parkman also worked with international ensembles, including the BBC Singers, the RIAS Chamber Choir, and the Rundfunkchor Berlin.
Parkman became chief conductor of the Swedish Radio Choir in 2002 and held the position until 2005. The Swedish Radio Choir is a leading professional ensemble specializing in complex a cappella and symphonic choral repertoire. He later served as chief conductor of the WDR Radio Choir in Cologne from 2014 to 2020, directing one of Germany's major broadcasting choirs.
At Uppsala University, Parkman became professor of choral conducting in 2000 and later held the Eric Ericson professorship. He served as Director Cantorum at the university's Körcentrum from 2010 and became professor emeritus in the Department of Musicology. He has also held guest professorships in choral conducting at the Universität der Künste Berlin and the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber Dresden, while teaching masterclasses, seminars, and workshops in Sweden and abroad.
As a guest conductor, Parkman has worked with the RIAS Chamber Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, MDR Radio Choir, NDR Vocal Ensemble, SWR Vocal Ensemble, Bavarian Radio Choir, Netherlands Radio Choir, Choeur de Radio France, and other ensembles. He has also conducted Swedish and Scandinavian orchestras, opera productions, and radio ensembles. His repertoire includes Scandinavian contemporary choral music, sacred music, large-scale choral-orchestral works, and a cappella works.
Parkman established an extensive international career as a choral conductor, leading major Swedish, Danish, and German radio choirs as well as prominent academic, cathedral, and professional ensembles.
He contributed to the performance and international dissemination of Scandinavian contemporary choral music, including works by Sven-David Sandström and other Nordic composers.
His recording career includes major choral releases with the WDR Radio Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, the Danish National Radio Choir, and the Uppsala Academy Chamber Choir.
(A recording of Rodion Shchedrin's choral work with Rundfu...)
2005
Ernst Pepping: Passionsbericht des Matthäus
(A recording of Ernst Pepping's St. Matthew Passion with R...)
2008
Views
Parkman's professional outlook is centered on the artistic and educational possibilities of choral music. His work with Swedish and international choirs, his advocacy for Scandinavian contemporary composers, and his teaching activity reflect a view of choral conducting as both an interpretive art and a means of transmitting musical knowledge between generations.
Membership
Parkman was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in 1998. The academy, founded in 1771, is Sweden's national institution for promoting musical art, education, and scholarship. He later served as vice president of the academy.
Elected member; later served as vice president.
Royal Swedish Academy of Music
,
Sweden
1998 - present
Interests
Literature, travel, photography, tennis, and sailing.
Sport & Clubs
Tennis and sailing.
Music & Bands
Parkman's documented musical interests include choral music, Scandinavian contemporary music, sacred repertoire, and orchestral music.
Connections
Parkman married Karin Axelsson on June 22, 1978. They have two children, Sara and Viktor. His brother Håkan Parkman was a Swedish composer, arranger, and choral director.
Father:
Allan Parkman
Mother:
Catharina Parkman
Wife:
Karin Axelsson
Daughter:
Sara Parkman
Son:
Viktor Parkman
References
Stefan Parkman official biography
Documents Parkman's conducting positions, international guest conducting, recordings, academic appointments, Royal Swedish Academy of Music membership, Order of the Dannebrog, and Litteris et Artibus medal.
Nationalencyklopedin: Stefan Parkman
Summarizes Parkman's career as conductor, professor of choral conducting, Director Cantorum, and leader of major Swedish, Danish, and German choirs.
Chandos booklet: Stefan Parkman
Provides biographical information on Parkman's studies, early choral appointments, Royal Philharmonic Choir work, and conducting career.
