Classical music influenced by Swedish folk music

About

We are Mika and Benjamin Nylund, Swedish twin composers born in the USA and raised around the world. Our musical journey began when we were nine years old and moved to New Zealand, where we started taking violin lessons.

Our love for violin playing grew rapidly, and for us it felt natural not only to play music but also to write it. Just as one learns to read and write words, we wanted to express ourselves through composing music.

Vivaldi was our first great inspiration. We loved his music so much that we attempted to rewrite it so we could play it with our then limited skills. Our violin teacher did point out that it was no longer Vivaldi when simplified to such an extent, but she nevertheless encouraged our creativity.

Over the years we developed our own styles by listening to and studying the great composers. Mika was once nicknamed "Modern Mozart" because his music at eleven years of age bore strong resemblance to Mozart's style.

Our greatest inspirations are traditional Swedish folk music and Nordic and Russian composers.

Today, Mika's style is more reminiscent of Grieg, Sibelius and Peterson-Berger, whilst Benjamin's has more of the emotional character of Rachmaninoff, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich.

Our works have been performed at Carnegie Hall, and we have also been featured at the Grand Ole Opry, Nashville Cathedral and Christ Church Cathedral in Nelson, New Zealand.

Now, at 21 years of age, we have moved back to Europe and are working to establish our music here. We look forward to contributing to European musical life with our compositions.