Sophie Dunér

Versatile and dynamic, Sophie Dunér is a multi-faceted, contemporary musician.

As a singer, she is known for her effortless, compelling vocals, and her ability to slip from one style to another. Rooted in jazz, her artistry is informed by both avant-garde and contemporary classical writing. As a composer, she draws inspiration from such varied composers as Kurt Weill, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Hans Werner Henze, Dizzy Gillespie, Igor Stravinsky and Frank Zappa, merging the romantic and the spiritually elevated with a dissonant, bold, edgy and satirical edge. As an improviser, her creativity and no-holds barred approach result in fresh, memorable performances that are both modern and timeless.

Her studies include jazz improvisation with horn players Hal Crook, George Garzone and Ed Tomassi, and a Degree in Vocal Performance from Berklee College of Music.

Sophie has also studied at Karlheinz Stockhausen’s summer courses in Germany, and been awarded a grant from The Swedish Arts Council.

Recent performance highlights include premiering her realization of Stockhausen’s TIERKREIS in New York City together with Steve Beck. During 2024, she also gave the premiere of Francis Schwartz’s The Neon Pterodactyl at The Laureate Gala at Carnegie Hall, accompanied by pianist Jennifer Savage and violinist Vladimir Dyo. She was featured as a composer and singer for the Harlem Jazz Series‘ The Jazz Influence with Strings. The acclaimed ETHEL string quartet premiered her piece Kairo in Tribeca, New York City.

Sophie also was featured as a composer in Clarice Assad’s November 2023 TAPESTRY / The Mosaic Project at the Mainly Mozart Festival in San Diego, USA. She sang her own version of Stockhausen’s “Leo” from TIERKREIS at Carnegie Hall for Progressive Musicians, and has premiered Jacob TV’s The Freedom Songs at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. The acclaimed Spanish-American composer José Luís Greco has composed a piece for Sophie.

Performance credits include concerts at NYC’s legendary CBGB ́s, Small’s, Symphony Space, Birdland, Players Theatre, The Bop Shop, Cornelia St Cafe, ShapeShifter Lab, The 13th & 14th Charles Mingus Virtual Festival, Spectrum, AddAMovie Film Festival, and The 11th Annual CompCord Festival; Boston’s The LilyPad, Sculler’s (MA); New Hampshire’s PARMA Music Festival; and Wisconsin’s Composer residency with Present Music for In The Avant Garden of Love / Jan Serr Studios in North America.

Sophie is also a frequent collaborator with Composers Concordance in NYC.

Internationally, Ms. Dunér has appeared at the Buenos Aires Festival de Música Contemporánea La Plata; Sweden’s Festival O/Modernt, Stockholm New Music Festival, Stockholm Jazz Festival, and Gothenburg Symphony Hall; The Netherlands’ Concertgebouw, November Music Festival, Tivoli Vredenburg; Spain’s Jazz en La Costa, Getxo Jazz Festival, and Circulo de Bellas Artes; Switzerland’s Moods Jazz Club; The UK’s Pizza Express; Germany’s Sowieso Neukoln; Finland’s Baltic Jazz Festival; and Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival.

In the recording arena, Ms. Dunér has recorded several albums, including the solo CD Strictly Business produced by Darren Alisson; The City of My Soul with The Callino String Quartet, produced by Michael Haas and released on PARMA Recordings; The City of Dizzy with electric cellist Jeremy Harman; Songs Eclectic with guitarist Gene Pritzker; and The Rain in Spain with Rory Stuart, Matt Penmann and Kahlil Kwame Bell.

Upcoming 2025 releases include Standards with former Cecil Taylor bassist Dominic Duval, Sr. and the long awaited Modern Mingus featuring Bertram Lehman on percussion and electronics.

The Swedish Arts Council has awarded Sophie grants on 4 occasions. As a composer, she was recently awarded SKR 50.000 ($5000) from STIM (The Swedish Performance Rights Organisation).

Sophie is also a visual artist.