Acoustic Hits

Born in Hammarö, Värmland on March 11th, 1961, Henrik Janson first forayed into professional musicianship as the founder of the jazz-rock group Mantra, which he led from his teens up until 1981. Expanding into the contemporary classical genre and later the international pop scene, the Swedish multi-instrumentalist, record producer and music arranger made a name for himself as a session musician and touring guitarist in the following years, and by the time he released his debut album, Livingroom, in 1989, he found himself nominated for a Swedish Grammis Award. Branching out into conducting and arranging orchestras alongside his brother, Ulf, in 1992, he began to work with high-profile outfits including the London Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. By the early 21st century, he had become a go-to contact of Simon Cowell’s, contributing extensively to three chart-topping Westlife singles as well as Il Divo’s first three albums, all of which reached the top of the UK Albums Chart. Playing a similar role in much of the ensuing output on Cowell’s SyCo label, Janson arranged strings on several winning Pop Idol and X Factor singles, including Will Young’s “Evergreen”, Shayne Ward’s “That’s My Goal” and Alexandra Burke’s “Hallelujah”. He has since arranged several North American hits, including Britney Spears’ “Toxic”, P!nk’s “Perfect”, and Céline Dion’s “Breakaway”, and has also continued to release instrumentals, including both original works and covers of well-known classical pieces including the Twin Peaks theme and Bach’s “Ave Maria”.