THORWALD JØRGENSEN

Thorwald Jørgensen is known as one of the leading classical theremin players in the world. As a soloist, Thorwald has played with renowned orchestras like Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (DSO), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, and conductors such as Stéphane Denève, Dirk Brossé, Benjamin Zander, Stanislav Kochanovsky and Lera Auerbach.

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Having a busy concert schedule, Thorwald has played to critical acclaim in Europe, North and South America, and Asia. In 2026, he played the Dutch premiere of Lera Auerbach’s Icarus in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic at the NTR ZaterdagMatinee, and premiered her symphony Arctica for theremin, piano, choir and orchestra with MDR Leipzig Radio Choir and Orchestra. Canadian composer Simon Bertrand wrote a theremin concerto for Thorwald in 2023, which Thorwald premiered with the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal. In March that same year he performed with the Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine as a part of the project ‘Muses are not Silent’, in support of the people of Ukraine during wartime. Thorwald played the world premiere of Lera Auerbach’s Flights of the Angakok for theremin, percussion, piano and choir with the Netherlands Chamber Choir in 2023. In Paris, Thorwald premiered The Day the Little Green Men Didn’t Attack Earth for solo theremin and winds, by French composer Maxine Aulio with the Musique des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris in 2022. Together with Symphonisches Orchester des Landestheaters Detmold, he recorded Detlef Heusinger’s opera Die Zeitreise-Maschine (2022). 

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As a chamber musician Thorwald works with both long-time collaborator, pianist Kamilla Bystrova, and the German ensemble for contemporary music ‘Ensemble Experimental’ (ENEX). With Explore Ensemble (UK) and the SWR Experimentalstudio (DE), Thorwald premiered Christian Mason’s Hölderlin’s Madness for voice, theremin and ensemble in Karlsruhe (2023). Together with the Utrecht String Quartet, he played the world premiere of Simon Bertrand’s The Invisible Singer for theremin and string quartet during the Gaudeamus Muziekweek in TivoliVredenburg (2019). In Turkey, he premiered the Suite for Theremin and Chamber Orchestra by İsmail Sezen (2018). He also contributed to several movie soundtracks.

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Thorwald is an advocate for new theremin repertoire and composers from all over the world have written pieces for him. His own composition Distant Shores was first performed at the Music and Beyond festival in Ottawa (CA) in 2017 by Thorwald and has been performed by him all over the world. Together with pianist Kamilla Bystrova, Thorwald recorded the album Air Électrique (2024), featuring the premiere recording of Lera Auerbach’s Ten Preludes for Theremin and Piano, which was received with great acclaim. The duo went on to record their second album Nuit Exotique with works by Ravel, Messiaen and Bosmans in 2026. He has also done extensive research into original historic scores for theremin and orchestra and gave the first performance in decades of Fuleihan’s theremin concerto with the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra in Nicosia.

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Thorwald currently plays a Moog Etherwave Pro theremin.

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Besides regular concerts, Thorwald also performed for radio and television and played at festivals, like Ravinia Festival (USA), Festival Classique (NL), Bach Festival (NL), Without Touch (DE), Hands Off (UK), Node (CH), Music and Beyond (CA), Festival Electromagnética Santiago (CL), International Film Festival Rotterdam / IFFR (NL), Nederlands Film Festival (NL), BachFest Tallinn (EE), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (NL), Lunigiana International Music Festival (IT), Havana Biennial (CU), MAG Festival (HR), Festival Ars Musica Bruxelles (BE), Klassifest (NL), Rio Harp Festival (BR), Festival Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques (CA), Schlossmediale Werdenberg (CH), Fête de la Musique Geneva (CH), Bregenzer Festspiele (AT), Ultraschall Berlin (DE) and the Thereminology Festival in Moscow and St. Petersburg (RU).

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He was also invited as a guest teacher, lecturer and performer at renowned institutions like the Conservatory of Amsterdam (NL), Codarts Rotterdam (NL), the conservatories of St. Petersburg and Nizhny Novgorod (RU), Stanford University (USA), Harvard University (USA) and the University of Havana (CU).

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​Thorwald performed with numerous orchestras, choirs and ensembles around the world, such as Philzuid (formerly known as philharmonie zuidnederland) (NL), Netherlands Radio Philharmonic (NL), Netherlands Chamber Choir (NL), Het Zeeuws Orkest (NL), Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin / DSO (DE), Brussels Philharmonic (BE), Cyprus Symphony Orchestra (CY), MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra (DE), MDR Leipzig Radio Choir (DE), Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz (DE), NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester (DE), Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart des SWR (DE), Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (DE), Bremer Philharmoniker (DE), Symphonisches Orchester des Landestheaters Detmold (DE), Antalya Symphony Orchestra (TR), Bursa State Symphony Orchestra (TR), Izmir Symphony Orchestra (TR), Presidential Symphony Orchestra of Turkey (TR), Antwerp Symphony Orchestra (BE), Royal Chamber Orchestra of Wallonia (BE), Royal Stockholm Philharmonic (SE), Norrköping Symphony Orchestra (SE), Toruń Symphony Orchestra (PL), Lviv National Philharmonic Orchestra of Ukraine (UA), Musique des Sapeurs-Pompiers de Paris (FR), Thirteen Strings Ottawa (CA), Les Violons du Roy (CA), Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal (CA) and Boston Philharmonic Orchestra (USA).