The Faroese composer Sunleif Rasmussen (b. 1961) was born on Sandoy. The Faroe Islands and the North Atlantic nature and nationality are key factors to understanding his sensuous music, which bears indelible traces of the wind, dunes, lyme grass and the ubiquitous Atlantic Ocean. Sunleif Rasmussen’s music may not seem inherently Faroese, but deep within the musical structure lingers traces of accumulated Faroese folk songs deconstructed and rebuilt in the form of a musical pantry of notes; notes which may rightly be called Rasmussen’s own – and new – while still retaining a relation to Faroese tradition and history. Career highlights: 1997 – Three-year grant from the Danish State Arts Foundation; 2002 – Nordic Council Music Prize; 2004 – Visiting composer at the prestigious Korsholm Festival in Finland. Key Works: “5 Faroese Choir Songs” (1992, choir); “Landid” (1992–1993, voice and orchestra); “Sunshine and Shadows” (1990, string quartet); “Dem Licht entgegen” (2001, saxophone and orchestra); “Symphony No. 1, Oceanic Days” (2002, orchestra); “Songs of Seasons” (2004, violin and strings); “Territorial Song” (2009, recorder and orchestra); “Anderlag #1-…” (2011, various woodwind duos).