Jonathan Spatola-Knoll

Jonathan Spatola-Knoll promotes Swedish Romantic Composer Elfrida Andrée (1841-1929) both as a musicologist and as a conductor. He presents Western-Hemisphere premieres of her music, and produces authoritative editions of her compositions based on her manuscripts. To this end, Spatola-Knoll ultimately seeks to publish authoritative scholarly editions of all of Andrée’s previously unavailable major works. All editions are designed and formatted for use by both scholars and performing musicians.

Andrée was among the most gifted Swedish musicians of her era. During her lifetime she received international acclaim as an organist, conductor, and composer. She was also a pioneer for women’s rights in her native country. She was the first woman in Sweden to become a cathedral organist, conduct a major orchestra, and focus upon large-scale instrumental works as a composer.

In recent decades, Andrée’s music has begun to receive renewed interest from musicians. Editions of many of her chamber works have become available. However, almost all of her orchestral works remain unpublished, including many of her finest compositions.

By emphasizing Andrée’s orchestral music, Spatola-Knoll helps give voice to an undervalued artist. It also counteracts longstanding misconceptions that women of her era rarely composed quality orchestral music.

Spatola-Knoll’s edition of Andrée’s First Symphony (1869), the earliest known symphony by a Swedish woman is currently under contract with A-R Editions, the leading academic publisher of historical scholarly editions in North America and will be published alongside her Intermezzo for Orchestra (1893). The Intermezzo received its world premiere on a Symphony Tacoma subscription concert in March 2024 under Spatola-Knoll’s baton.

Spatola-Knoll is also completing an edition of Andrée’s Suffrage Cantata (1911), the composer’s final major work, for a performance scheduled with the Whitman Symphony and Chorus. This important work has never been performed outside of Sweden.