Daniel Blendulf has found international success as a conductor, although he took up the baton only in his mid-20s. He also remains active as a cellist, the instrument on which he began his career.
Daniel Per Rune Blendulf was born in Stockholm on August 3, 1981. He studied the cello with
Torleif Thedéen in Sweden and then moved to the Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna, where he entered the class of
Heinrich Schiff and graduated in 2004. He also took lessons from
Frans Helmerson,
Boris Pergamenschikow, and
Pieter Wispelwey, among others. His career as a cellist was off to a promising start, with appearances as a soloist with Sweden's top orchestras to his credit. In 2005, conductor
Jorma Panula, a longtime pedagogue who had mentored a generation of top Scandinavian conductors, suggested that
Blendulf try his hand at conducting. The results were impressive and almost immediate:
Blendulf took home the Swedish Conductor Award in 2008 and won a Crusell Scholarship the following year. He has conducted a variety of orchestras including the
Scottish Chamber Orchestra,
Royal Northern Sinfonia, and
Tapiola Sinfonietta, and has served as chief conductor and artistic director of Sweden's Dala Sinfonietta. When that appointment came to an end in 2019,
Blendulf embarked on a new round of major guest conducting appearances. He is also the cellist with Sweden's
Z Quartet and has played chamber music with leading musicians, including pianist
Love Derwinger.
Blendulf has made recordings both as cellist and conductor. He recorded the
Shostakovich Cello Sonata No. 1 in D minor, Op. 40, with pianist
Francisca Skoogh for the Intim Musik label in 2008, and he has conducted the Dala Sinfonietta, the
Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, and the
Norrköping Symphony Orchestra. With the latter group, and with violinist
Johan Dalene, he recorded the
Tchaikovsky and Barber violin concertos for the BIS label in 2020.
Blendulf is married to violinist
Janine Jansen.