Lasse Mårtenson

Lars Anders Fredrik "Lasse" Mårtenson (24 September 1934 – 14 May 2016) was a Finnish singer, composer, actor, and theater conductor.

Biography Mårtenson was born in Helsinki. He grew up in a highly musical home; his father, Elis Mårtenson, was an organist and his mother Eini Mårtenson, née Stenfeldt, was a singing teacher. During the Continuation War, he was sent as a war child to Helgerum Castle in Västervik, Sweden, but returned to Helsinki in 1943. As a young man, Mårtenson devoted himself to jazz and won the soloist prize in an orchestral competition in 1949 and the jazz piano prize in the Nordic competition Ungdom med ton in 1952. Mårtenson formed his own trio, which he played in from 1952 to 1960.

He trained as a telegraph operator and then as an advertising illustrator. Parallel with his musical career, Mårtenson worked as an advertising illustrator at Stockmann's department store and for about twenty years as a freelance illustrator. Mårtenson initially played mainly in restaurants in Helsinki and at smaller events, until he met Vivica Bandler, who opened new doors for him in the world of theater. Mårtenson worked from 1956 to 1963 as a theatre conductor at the Lilla Teatern, Åbo Svenska Teater and the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki.

Mårtenson's discography includes hits, ballads and music for television, film and theatre. He composed music for the musicals Smugglarkungen (1977 at the Swedish Theatre in Helsinki) and Prinsessan Törnrosa (1988) as well as for the films Den förtrollade vägen (1986) and Guldfeber i Lappland (1999). Mårtenson also ran the company Mårtensong Ab. Mårtenson was awarded the Svenska Kulturfonden's prize in 1989.