The program

  • Florence Price Fantasie No. 1 in G Minor

  • Béla Bartók Sonata No. 2, BB 85

  • Clara Schumann 3 romances, op. 22

  • Camille Saint-Saëns Introduction & Rondo capriccioso in A Minor, op. 28

  • Sergei Prokofiev Five Melodies, op. 35bis

  • Edvard Grieg Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, op. 45

  • Duration 1:45 incl. pause

The artists

  • Johan Dalene violin

  • Sebastian Iivonen piano

27

NOV 2026

19:00 – Kalmar, Kulturhuset Strömmen

The concert

The Friends of Camerata Nordica invite you to a special concert with Johan Dalene and Sebastian Iivonen. Everyone is welcome!

Free admission for members of the Friends of Camerata Nordica. Book your tickets in the link above.

Johan Dalene and Sebastian have played together since their high school days, when they discovered that they shared the same musical understanding and drive, and a natural ability for collaboration. Parallel to their individual careers, they have continued to perform as a duo in Sweden and Denmark with a repertoire that extends from the classical core repertoire to contemporary works.

Johan Dalene “is not just a virtuoso like so many others, he is a voice. He has a tone, a presence” – so read one of the comments when Dalene, 19 years old, won the prestigious Carl Nielsen Competition in 2019. Now, at 25 years of age, he has performed with a large number of leading orchestras and at prestigious concert venues both at home and around the world. His ability to “make his Stradivarius sing like a master” (Le Monde), combined with his refreshingly honest musicality and engagement with both musicians and audiences, has earned him countless admirers. In 2022, he was named Young Artist of the Year by Gramophone magazine.

From 2019 to 2022, Dalene was appointed a BBC New Generation Artist, and from 2021 to 2022, he was chosen as an “ECHO Rising Star” by the European concert halls. During the current season, he is Artist in Residence with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra. Dalene enjoys playing contemporary music, and in 2023, together with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, he premiered the violin concerto Globe Skimmer Surfing the Somali Jet by Swedish composer Tebogo Monnakgotla.

Johan Dalene plays “The Duke of Cambridge”, a violin built by Stradivarius in 1725, generously on loan from Anders Sveaas’ Almennyttige Fond.

Sebastian Iivonen (b. 1997) was born in Stockholm and began playing the piano at the age of six for Natalia Kazimirovskaia. As a ten-year-old, he made his debut in Kabalevsky’s third piano concerto with the Stockholm Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Stockholm Concert Hall, and that same year received first prize and a gold medal at the Malmö Piano Festival.

In 2020, Sebastian received his bachelor’s degree from the Royal College of Music/Edsberg Castle for Professor Mats Widlund. Since 2020, he has been “Artist in Residence” at the Ingesund Piano Center in Arvika, which is led by Professor Julia Mustonen-Dahlkvist. During the years 2022–2023, Sebastian Iivonen was appointed ambassador for EPTA-Sweden (European Piano Teachers Association), which involved actively working to inspire young future pianists.

Sebastian made his debut in 2024 with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and made his solo debut at Carnegie Hall that same year. He is co-founder of the concert series Mirage Live at the Swedish History Museum in Stockholm, with the aim of highlighting young musicians and bringing together traditional and contemporary music. In 2025, Sebastian Iivonen was awarded the Anders Wall Music Prize.