6 May, 2026 | Redaktion
It is with deep sadness that we bid farewell to the musicologist, editor, and curator Andreas Engström, who for many years had a profound impact on Berlin’s musical life. For him, this marks the end of a long journey with a serious illness that increasingly defined his life in recent years.
Andreas was a close listener. His work was characterized by a deep curiosity about the possibilities of music and art, which repeatedly led him to look beyond the supposed boundaries of what music can be. From his wide-ranging travels, Andreas brought back an extraordinary knowledge of people, music, and cultural contexts, thereby gathering an unparalleled store of expertise and experience. He was a particularly attentive follower of developments in Central Europe, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia, while also taking a keen interest in folk and world music as well as subcultures from around the world. He was one of those increasingly rare thinkers about music who didn’t just pick up on trends or the spirit of the moment, but was willing to critically evaluate them.
Andreas studied musicology in Sweden and worked as a freelance writer, critic, and editor for numerous publications across Europe, including daily newspapers and specialized journals such as Dagens Nyheter, Svenska Dagbladet, Seismograf, Tempo, and many more. For many years, he was also editor-in-chief of the Swedish music magazine Nutida Musik and contributed as a (co-)author to important publications on sound art and art music in Scandinavia.
Most recently, Andreas was co-publisher and editor of the German magazine Positionen – Texte zur aktuellen Musik, which he took over in 2018 together with Bastian Zimmermann and helped to fundamentally reorient. Under his leadership, the magazine developed into an important forum for discourse on contemporary music and its intersections with other arts.
In Berlin, he not only played a formative role at Positionen but was also one of the founders and curators of the concert series KONTRAKLANG. Its discontinuation due to a lack of funding has left a noticeable gap in the city’s musical life. Thanks to his deep knowledge of the Berlin music scene, he was also a valued member of various juries, including at inm – initiative neue musik berlin.
He was a warm person and a loyal friend, but also a combative spirit who loved and sought out debate. As a result, his writings were uncompromising and honest — as music criticism should be, but rarely is. It is for these reasons and many more that we valued and sometimes suffered alongside him. He will leave a great void in the discourse around new music, but also as a friend.
He spent his final years in Sweden surrounded by his family and friends, with whom we share a deep sorrow at his loss.
You will be missed.
On behalf of inm – initiative neue musik berlin
Lisa Benjes
On behalf of the magazine Positionen – Texte zur aktuellen Musik
Bastian Zimmermann