Let us introduce this year's conductors and leaders
We have a fantastic set of conductors and leaders for this year's Side by Side!
Ron Davis Alvarez
Ron started as one of El Sistema's violinists in his home country of Venezuela. Today, he is a household name in musical learning and travels around the world as a conductor and ambassador for El Sistema. In 2017 he was nominated for the prestigious Global Teacher Prize. Ron is the mastermind behind the Dream Orchestra project and one of Side by Side's artistic advisers. In 2020 he was awarded Göran Lagervalls pedagogstipendium by the Royal Swedish Academy of Music.
Birgitta Mannerström-Molin
Birgitta is active in Gothenburg, where she manages a comprehensive choir organisation for children and youths in Härlanda Parish. In 2016 she was named Sweden's Children's and Youth Choir Leader of the year and today she is a well received guest conductor throughout the country. Birgitta helped establish El Sistema in Sweden and is one of Side by Side's artistic advisers.
Manuel Lopez Gomez
Manuel is an internationally recognized conductor from Venezuela and has worked with, among others, Washington National Symphony, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. He worked closely with Gustavo Dudamel for several years and today he is the music director of the Bogotá Philharmonic Youth Orchestra. For Universal Music Italy, Manuel recently conducted and recorded the world premiere of the opera Atahualpa by Carlo Enrico Pasta in Perú. The first time he conducted at Side by Side was in Lisebergshallen, 2016.
Daniela Musca
Daniela was born in Rome and is a trained orchestra conductor. She has been hired by the Belgian Chamber Philharmonic, the HR Symphony Orchestra, the Frankfurt Opera och Frankfurt Museum Orchestra. In 2017 she was a semi finalist at Georg Solti Conducting Competition in Frankfurt and her interpretation of Eugen Onegin at Staatstheater Darmstadt (2017) was awarded the prize for best musical interpretation at Hessian Theatre Days. She conducted Side by Side's PRE-ADVANCED ORCHESTRA for the first time in 2022.
Marjolein has a double degree in flute and wind band conducting. She grew up in the southern Netherlands where there is a big tradition in wind band music, and she has worked a lot with youth orchestras. Marjolein is a flutist in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and has attended Side by Side for several years as an instructor for the older participants. She has been a Side by Side conductor since 2020 and is the principal conductor at WIND & STRING ORCHESTRA..
Photo: Francis LöfvenholmTerje is a violinist from Norway and since 2009 he is the first chair for Violin 2 in Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. He is also the concertmaster in BAGS, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra's own
baroque ensemble. Terje has led WIND & STRING ORCHESTRA in their string orchestra repertoaire since Side by Side 2022.
Foto: Anna Hult
Ida Rosén Hamrå
Ida has worked at GöteborgsOperan since 2009. She is musical director in the Creative department and conductor for the Opera's Children and Youth Choirs, which consists of three choirs with members aged 9–25. Ida is trained in viola and choral conducting at Ljungskile Folk High School, Uppsala University and the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.
Anders Renberg
Anders has double degrees in the recorder and a past in musical science. He has his musical home in medieval and renaissance music both as a musician and a sought-after teacher. In addition to the recorder, Anders also plays several other medieval instruments and is a member of the Medieval Ensemble Ambrosia.
Sten is a musician, composer, arranger, and folk and world music. He is passionate about integrating music from different cultures, with a special focus on music from Haiti. not the least through his band Simbi. Sten is the Artistic Leader of World Wide Orchestra. He was awarded the Swedish Planeta Prize Inspirator of the Year in 2021.
Jenny is a freelance musician and national fiddler on Västgöta songs, and has a wide audience. She is active as a musician and educator, has done extensive school tours, worked as a theater musician and is visible on folk music stages around the country. Jenny also works with the youth courses Sjövikskursen and Västra låtwerkstan.
Photo: Tina Axelsson
Magnus Pettersson
Magnus has solid experience as a music teacher, musician and music therapist in Sweden and abroad. He works with Angered School of the Arts and has been course leader at the music teacher program as well as a teacher in music didactics for lower ages at the Academy of Music and Drama in Gothenburg.
Christel Weiner
Christel is a music teacher and music therapist. She works in Partille School of the Arts with choir and orchestra for students with special needs and also teaches music in the elementary and special-aid elementary schools. She likes using images, signs and colors as teaching-aids.
Måns and Maria work at City School of the Arts in Gothenburg and are also experienced freelance musicians and / -singers. They specialize in teaching song and music to the youngest children and focus a lot on engaging the participants with fun and rhythmic exercises.
Anna Ström
Lina Molander Ekström
Tobias Edvardson
Marie Fransson
Willy Wong
