Hans-Ola Ericsson was born in Stockholm in 1958. He is a renowned organist with hundreds of recitals and concerts behind him, as well as an esteemed pedagogue at several institutions and a bold composer of contemporary music.
Known for his renditions of music as diverse as Olivier Messiaen and John Cage, his interpretory range stretches between György Ligety and the ubiquitous Johann Sebastian Bach as well as many more. Among the crown jewels of the repertoire is the collected works of Messiaen and a recently finished series of Bach in chamber and organ settings.
For may years, Hans-Ola Ericsson was the pillar on which the influential concert organist education was built on in Piteå, Sweden. Appointed professor in 1989, he trawled worldwide for promising students as well as taking on many swedish organ students before relocating to Montreal, Canada in 2011. Today, he is Chair of Church Music as well as University Organist at the prestigious McGill University.
During his tenure in Piteå, Hans-Ola Ericsson was instrumental in guiding the Övertorneå, Norrfjärden and Acusticum projects along, forever making an imprint on the organ world and the northern Bothnia region.
An active composer before the 1980’s, Hans-Ola Ericsson premiered many works; notably the Melody to the Memory of a Lost Friend in homage to a late friend. From 2000 and onward, there was a surge in compositional creativity that yielded works such as the organ mass The Four Beast’s Amen, the church opera Song of Songs as well as several commissions.