Anders Elten

Concert marimbist and educator

Biography

Anders Elten is a Danish percussionist and educator specializing in the marimba. Since his early music studies, he has devoted himself to exploring and furthering the art of marimba playing.

In 2010, he enrolled in the percussion class at The Royal Danish Academy of Music (RDAM), Copenhagen, where he studied under the guidance of professor Gert Mortensen and Johan Bridger. He graduated from the Soloist Class at RDAM in 2019. During his time at the academy, he was the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the first prizes in both the internal soloist competition, the internal ensemble competition, as well as the annual concerto competition.

He has received the Third Prize and the Keiko Abe Honorary Award at the Universal Marimba Competition in Belgium, one of the biggest competitions of its kind, the Grand Prize in the ENKOR Music Competition in Germany, the Sonning Talent Prize, the Gladsaxe Music Prize as well as the prestigious Danish Radio P2 Talent Prize. He has also received the Aennchen and Eigil Harbys Foundation scholarship.

Anders Elten currently holds the position as marimba teacher at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, and from the fall of 2022, he will also serve as guest teacher at The University of Stavanger, Faculty of Performing Arts. He is also a regular guest teacher at Theodor Milkov’s International Marimba Summer Camp (MIMSC).

Aside from teaching and performing, he also enjoys working with composers to expand the repertoire for the modern marimbist. He has premiered solo works by composers such as Benjamin de Murashkin and Jeppe Ernst, and in 2019 he premiered the first movement of Danish composer Daniel Fladmose’s marimba concerto with Aalborg Symphony Orchestra. In 2021, he and his longstanding duo partner Mathias Reumert commissioned and premiered a new work for percussion duo titled “ARGUMENTA”, written by the renowned French composer Philippe Manoury.