Josef Zachariassen

– Faroese pianist, composer, singer and songwriter who began with classical piano and later specialised in indie and synthesizers.

Jósef Zachariassen (b. 1995) is a Faroese pianist, singer-songwriter and composer.

Jósef started playing piano at the age of 6. Growing up in a musical family, he was shortly thereafter composing music and playing at the local church.

In 2011, Jósef moved to Denmark for a year to study music at Klejtrup Musikefterskole. The following year, he started his musical examen artium studies, from which he graduated in 2015. At this point, Jósef had spent his musical life playing and composing in a wide variety of musical genres. He decided in 2015 to study a double Bachelors degree at the University of Stavanger with Prof. Erling R. Eriksen (classical piano) and Svein Olav Herstad (jazz piano).

In 2018, at age 23, Jósef released his debut album, 24 Preludes. In this album, Jósef explored with a wide variety of musical styles. In the process of composing this album, Jósef realised he needed to leave the classical piano tradition in order to pursue musical freedom.

For Jósef, the 24 preludes were a farewell to traditional classical music and a greeting to the less traditional music. The following year, Jósef would start studying music with individual concentration at the Norwegian Academy of Music (Oslo).

Jósef is currently resided in Oslo, Norway, where he studies piano with Prof. Eyolf Dale and composition with prof. Asbjørn Schaatun and Morten Qvenild at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Along with his studies, Jósef regularly plays concerts. As a soloist, Jósef still plays classical repertoire and has performed with Føroya Symfoniorkestur, Bjergsted Symfoniorkester and Aldubáran among others. Additionally, Jósef also plays improvised concerts ranging from standard jazz through pop to experimental music.