Magnus Plejdrup, (b. 1995) is a Danish conductor and composer, based in Aarhus. In addition to being a freelance musician and teacher, he is the artistic leader of Aarhus Chamber Orchestra and part of the artistic planning team behind Aarhus Chamber Music Festival. He is a member of The Danish Composers Society and The Danish Conductors Association. 

Magnus was a recipient of the Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Foundation’s Talent Prize 2023, the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize 2022 and in 2021 he won the audience award at The Danish Sinfonietta’s 75-year anniversary composition contest with the piece ‘Randers’.

Magnus studied a MMus degree in Orchestral Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with professor Martyn Brabbins (2021-23) and a Bachelor of Classical Composition at The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus with professors Niels Rønsholdt, Simon Steen-Andersen and Juliana Hodkinson (2018-21). Through his studies, he has conducted the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and the orchestra of Scottish Opera, and as a student he has composed pieces for Esbjerg Ensemble, Friction Quartet and The Symphony Orchestra of The Royal Academy of Music, Aarhus.

Magnus has participated several times in conducting masterclasses with Alim Shakh and the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra.

In 2024, Magnus is a participant of the newly launched Dirigentløftet (“Dirigierforum” of Denmark), through which he is participating in masterclasses with professional Danish orchestras such as Aalborg and Aarhus Symphony Orchestras, with teachers such as Johannes Schlaefi, Hartmut Haenchen, Dmitry Matvienko and more.

Professionally, Magnus has been engaged as conductor with Red Note Ensemble, Orkester Midtvest and as assistant conductor at Aarhus Sommeropera, and as composer with Orkester Midtvest, Aarhus Chamber Music Festival and by GotFat Productions for the documentary film ‘Intruders’ by director David Krøyer.

Furthermore, Magnus is a very experienced cultural entrepreneur, having organised more than 20 different concert projects, primarily in Denmark, and successfully fundraised more than 2.000.000DKK total. He was previously a member of the Ung Nordisk Musik and Aarhus Unge Tone Kunstnere boards.

Magnus is a keen teacher of composition, conducting and music theory, having successfully prepared several students for admittance into pre-conservatory schools (MGK).

(Last updated June 30, 2024)