Singer and composer Lisa Östergren has been an active musician and vocal coach for many years. She is a vocal coach and jazz ensemble teacher at the Ingesund School of Music. As a composer, she is passionate about children's music, and this past weekend, she was awarded a Grammy for Best Children's Music.
Lisa Östergren has extensive experience as a teacher, having worked at folk high schools, cultural schools, and privately. When she is not teaching at the Ingesund School of Music, she is either on tour with one of her children's music projects or composing music in her hometown of Upplands Väsby. Music has taken her to many parts of the world, and she has worked with music in various ways – from being a solo artist, singing duets with Sven-Bertil Taube, working as a studio singer in TV series and commercials, backing and working behind both Swedish and international artists, to being a member of the vocal group The Real Group. She has also composed and led her own children's music projects. She has received the STIM scholarship twice, and her children's albums have been nominated for a Grammy for Best Children's Album twice. This weekend, she won with the album "Konsertburkar," which is also a musical performance for children.
"It's amazing to be nominated, but to win, it's just wow! My colleague and husband Thomas Backman, who creates 'Konsertburkar' with me, and I are so happy and grateful; we have worked hard for this! With the musical performance 'Konsertburkar,' we are out playing for children all over Sweden. In the future, we will be visiting Norrbotten, Halland, the west coast, and we will also be performing at the jazz festival in Stockholm. The best thing I know is playing for children. I have been involved in children's culture for 25 years, and it is so important. During my upbringing, there were many forums for culture that have been dismantled and disappeared over time. Seeing someone play an instrument or watching someone dance in a performance can change a child's life. In our contemporary society, where algorithms and segregation control society and what we come into contact with, it is more important than ever. Children have as much right to access culture as adults, and many children, for various reasons, may not have the opportunity. Children need music, preferably high-quality and acoustic music, because children can listen to and understand most things without complicating it. They are so open, curious, and spontaneous – a wonderful audience! We don't dress up, we are ourselves and play music that we have written and that we like. And our hope is that they like it too. Sure, it can lead to someone becoming a musician, but perhaps the most important thing is that they simply become happier people because we feel good from music and culture. That's something I want to contribute to."
