The ever-curious and virtuoso musicians of the ensemble Gageego! look back on 30 years of successful exploration.

This is a translation from Swedish of an article in Podiet No 3, 2024–2025.

The ensemble was founded in Gothenburg in 1995 and has since then worked for contemporary music with tireless dedication and passion. The name itself is an uninhibited exclamation – it is said to come from a legend about a lone wanderer who uttered the very first human word: “GAGEEGO!” In the same story, the answer was not long in coming: “-Huh???” The wanderer had an audience.

Anders Jonhäll, flutist, thinks that the legend puts the finger on how far the ensemble is prepared to go to expand listening and challenge and enchant its audience. Together with Johanna Persson, viola, and Daniel Norberg, percussion, Anders Jonhäll has been with the group since its inception in Gothenburg in 1995.

– We have always played what we think is fun. Otherwise it wouldn’t work. It is the curiosity about interesting music that drives us, says Anders Jonhäll.

A number of contemporary pieces by Swedish and foreign composers have been premiered and specially written for Gageego! over the years. Many works only reach their final form when the musicians add their own artistry at the highest level.

– Composers always have wishes and it is up to us to express them. The fun is meeting them and being challenged! says Anders Jonhäll.

For the audience, the concerts always involve something unexpected: atonal sounds, electronic effects, movement exercises, speech and improvisation. No one is safe.

– As an audience, you don’t know at all what harmonies you’re going to hear. Part of the experience is not knowing what’s going to happen, says Anders Jonhäll.

And there are loyal fans who have followed the experimental group over the years. “With Gageego! I feel like I can let go of the need to understand… Music always gives rise to new thoughts!” Aina Nordqvist said in the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra general program a few years ago.

Among the exciting names the audience met were composers such as Stuart Saunders Smith, Djuro Zivkovic, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Madeleine Isaksson and not least the conductor Peter Eötvös. One of Anders Jonhäll’s favorite memories is the theater music Pour une forêt de symboles by Vinko Globokar from 2006. Anders himself served champagne on stage and spoke into a megaphone.

– Mårten Landström had a seagull. Johan Stern painted Mårten’s face. It really was a whole forest of symbols!

The 30-year-old ensemble Gageego! is now old enough to get married and active in a number of projects and constellations. An upcoming performance is a newly written opera by Maria Lithell Flyg with the Gothenburg Company Man Must Sing at Cinnober Teater.

The anniversary in Stenhammarsalen will be celebrated with a cavalcade of works that have been played over the years. The composers have all been part of shaping the ensemble. There will also be an introduction before the concert where there will be a chance to meet some of the evening’s musicians and composers.

Text: Jenny Svensson
Photo: Anna Hult