Björn Wennås Guitar
Boston based composer and guitarist Björn Wennås is an active musician in Boston and its surroundings. He currently co-leads BC Quintet together with Carmen Marsico featuring his and hers original compositions drawing inspiration from both rock and jazz tradition, contemporary music as well as from both their heritage.
Björn made his debut on stage at the age of 12 with the Flamenco group Los Dos Jovenes led by acclaimed guitarist and educator Miroslav Simic. Björn eventually developed an interest in jazz and went on to play guitar in several big bands and smaller ensembles. Most notably performing with big bands under the direction of Johnny Olsson at Berns and Mosebacke in Stockholm. Björn has performed in some of the most distinguished jazz clubs in Sweden such as Fashing in Stockholm and Katalin in Uppsala.
Björn holds a Bachelor’s Degree from Uppsala University in Musicology and Anthropology, a Diploma in Music from Berklee College of Music and a Masters of Music from Longy School of Music. In 1999 he moved to Boston and has since studied jazz with Mick Goodrick, Hal Crook, Jon Damian, Charlie Banacos, Joe Morris, Ed Tomassi, Greg Hopkins and Tim Miller. Björn is also a proï¬cient classical guitarist and has studied with David Patterson, David Leisner and performed in master classes with Emanuel Segre, Aldo Minella and members from the Paciï¬ca Quintet. He was nominated in 2004 for the Just Plain Folk’s Award for best jazz vocal composition (Love Song) along with the likes of Judi Silvano. His quintet was also selected to perform at the first annual New Music Festival in Boston, celebrating composers that are pushing the edge. He was a finalist in the International Massimo Urbani Award 2005, a jazz soloist competition that takes place in Camerino, Italy. The last couple of years he has been touring the US and Europe with BC Quintet and Newpoli, an Italian Folk Music Ensemble that he co-leads.
Björn has performed and collaborated with several notable musicians including Bruno Råberg, Phil Grenadier (Kenny Baron, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Larry Goldings) Mark Shilansky (Luciana Souza, Kenny Wheeler, Clark Terry) Mads Tolling (Turtle Island String Quartet, Stanley Clarke) and Vadim Neselovskyi (Gary Burton).