Jonas is a Swedish opera composer and librettist born in Stockholm. Amongst his more than 15 scenic works, his opera comedy Thine is the Kingdom from 1991 was rewarded with the Wolf Ebermann Prize in Munich 1992 and in 2008 the opera Death and the Maiden was premiered in Malmö with libretto by Ariel Dorman based on the same author’s famous play. He has worked as Artistic Director at opera houses in Sweden and Scandinavia, and is also active as a clarinet and saxophone player. Jonas is now teaching at the University College of Opera, a part of Stockholm University of the Arts.
Jonas spent his time at the centre working with lyrics and music to a new youth opera based on Margaret Mahy’s novel Memory from 1987, commissioned by a Swedish opera company Estrad Norr in Östersund and to be premiered in October 2019. He also spent time finding out more about Margaret Mahy during this stay in New Zealand.