Christian Lindberg

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Christian Lindberg

Christian Lindberg (born 1958) is a Swedish trombone virtuoso. Lindberg has premiered over 200 works, including over 70 new concerti. His performances are characterised as having “a charismatic intensity of delivery” (New Grove, OUP).

Growing up in Stockholm, it was there that he learned to play the baritone horn before taking up the trombone at the age of 17. He originally borrowed a trombone to join his friends’ dixieland jazz group, inspired by records of Jack Teagarden.

“I got completely obsessed by the trombone when I first played it. I loved it passionately. The whole world opened up for me.” (Lindberg, The Independent 1995)

He soon started studying with Sven-Erik Eriksson at the Swedish Royal Academy of Music. By the age of 19 he had a professional position in the Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra and at 20 he left the orchestral career behind to study to become a full-time soloist. He studied with John Iveson at the Royal College of Music (1979–80) and with Ralph Sauer and Roger Bobo in Los Angeles (1983).

In 1981 he had his first big break, winning the Nordic Soloists’ Biennale competition. He had his concert debut in 1984 with the Trombone Concerto by Henri Tomasi with the Swedish RSO conducted by Saraste. In the same year he signed a recording contract by Robert von Bahr and released his first solo CD on the BIS label, “The Virtuoso Trombone”. Initially commissioned for an impressive three album deal to cover the most challenging music in the repertoire, Lindberg has gone on to produce over 60 solo CDs.

He initially worked with pianist and college friend Roland Pöntinen and local composer Jan Sandström. Early fame came with Sandström’s notorious “Motorbike Concerto”, which involves all the sounds of a motorbike from revving, gear changes and skidding, and a complete story told through the trombone.

Lindberg’s facility on the trombone is among the greatest on his instrument. For example, his performance of the solo violin part of “Winter” from Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” concerti requires amazing speed, accuracy, stamina, flexibility and range as with his interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of The Bumblebee". By contrast, he brings his lyrical playing abilities to pieces such as “Julietta’s Farewell” from his arrangement of Sergei Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet”.

He is best known for his performance of avant-garde and other theatrical works, achieving a marvellous audience rapport. His repertoire includes Luciano Berio’s “Sequenza V”, Sandström’s “Motorbike Concerto”, Fredrik Högberg’s “The Ballad of Kit Bones” and “Su ba do be”.

He has developed his tone in the German tradition of a thick, warm sound, often with a fast vibrato. This is the most striking difference between Lindberg’s playing and the American and British virtuosi, who tend toward a more focused, free sound.

His compositional career began at the age of 39 after Sven-David Sandström convinced Lindberg to try his hand at composition. His first-performed work was “Arabenne” for trombone and strings, recorded in 1997.

In 2000 he made his conducting debut with the Northern Sinfonia in the UK. He is now a regular conductor for the Nordic Chamber Orchestra and the Swedish Wind Ensemble.