Anders Eljas

Swedish pianist, composer, arranger, and orchestra leader based in Norway since 2010, born on January 15, 1953 in Oscar, Stockholm, Uppland.
Anders Eljas studied piano and violin at the Swedish municipal music school and subsequently obtained a degree in music education.
While working as a conductor at a nightclub in Stockholm during the autumn of 1975, Anders Eljas met the opera singer Kjerstin Dellert and subsequently became her personal accompanist. The following year, he undertook his first Swedish folk park tour with Björn Skifs. There he met Claes af Geijerstam, which led to his involvement as a keyboardist in ABBA's Europe and Australia tour in 1977.
In the latter part of the 1970s, Eljas composed what are known as 'påläggsarrangemang' (addition arrangements) for many of the era's gramophone recordings with various Swedish artists. He also toured during that time, as well as in the early 1980s, with several popular artists in Sweden such as Lars Berghagen, Björn Skifs, Magnus Uggla, Kjerstin Dellert, and Lill-Babs.
Eljas was also employed for a time as a part-time producer at, which later became. There, he produced, among other things, Den Ljusnande Framtid Är Vår.
In 1983, he was engaged by the songwriting duo Björn Ulvaeus & Benny Andersson to arrange and orchestrate the musical Chess. This led to the recording Chess with the London Symphony Orchestra as well as a tour in five capital cities across Europe.
During the same period but on separate days in 1987, Eljas served as the conductor for the two musicals Chess and Carrie in the theater district along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. During that time at the end of the 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, Eljas devoted himself to conducting other musicals as well.
Already in 1978 and continuing until 1995, Eljas was frequently engaged by as a conductor for several music shows. In a radio program on in 1985, 'Våra viskungar' (Our sovereigns in song arrangement and writing), hosted by Bengt Haslum, Eljas was also able to work with Povel Ramel, with whom he subsequently produced several shows such as 'Tingel Tangel' in Restaurant Tyrol at, 'Knäpp igen' ([I am] Foolish again), and 'Kolla klotet' (Gaze the globe), a collaboration that continued until Ramel's death in 2007. Ramel and Eljas also collaborated on several concert programs and two record productions.
In 1995, Eljas was the main responsible for the arrangements and orchestration of Kristina Från Duvemåla (Den Kompletta Utgåvan), which was released in 1996, where he personally oversaw 65–75% of the work, while and other arrangers handled the remainder.
In September 2009, Eljas conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra in front of an audience of approximately 36,000 people in, London. The concert featured performances by artists including Chaka Khan, Jamie Cullum, Kylie Minogue, Lulu, Benny Anderssons Orkester, and Elaine Paige.
Since the year 2010, Anders Eljas has been residing in Norway with the singer Wencke Myhre.