Born in 1953 in Lidköping (Sweden), initially trained as a photographer (1972-74), he began his compositional career in 1978, after studies at the Music Conservatory in Göteborg and in the ems Electronic Music Studio in Stockholm. He was active as a rock musician and leader of the 15-member Afro-American music formation.
He is particularly renowned for his electroacoustic music. His pieces have received prizes at the Bourges Festival as many as six times (1978, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1991, 1992). He has also won the 'Prix Ars Electronica' (1990 i 1994), the 'Prix Noroit' (1991) and the Stockholm Electronic Arts Award (1993). His output also includes instrumental music, multimedia art, video and incidental music. His disc 'Invisible Music' received a 'Grammy' Award in Sweden in 1995. His piece Grains of Voices was performed in the un headquarters in New York to mark un Day in 1997.
Åke Parmerud regularly receives commissions from many European countries. He teaches composition and computer music at Lindbladstudio (University of Göteborg).

Selected works: Närheter, text-sound composition (1978), Time's Imaginary for soprano, tape and slides (1980), Eye for orchestra and tape (1982), Remain, multimedia stage show (1978-82), Floden av Glas for soprano, six instruments and tape (1983), Yttringar for tape (1984), Krén for percussion ensemble and tape (1985), Maze for solo piano (1986), Isola for tape (1986), ƒxor for harpsichord and synthesizer (1987), Repulse for tape (1988), Inori for tape (1990), String Quartet for wind quintet and computer (1991), Alias for tape (1991), Reed my Lips for sinfonietta and computer (1992), Les Objets for saxophone quartet and computer (1992-93), Obscures for tape (1993), Inside Looking Out for harp and computer (1993), Retur for tape (1994), Jeux imaginaires, a radio piece for tape (1994-95), Strings & Shadows for harp and computer (1995-96), Renaissance for tape (1997-98), Grains of Voices, radiophonic piece; Mirage for chamber ensemble and computer; Afterimage for orchestra and computer; The Heart of Silence, multimedia spectacle; SubString Bridge for guitar and interactive computer; Les flètes en feu for tape; The Fire Inside, audiovisual installation; Lèspace qui vous regardez, audiovisual installation; Tide In for singers and movement monitoring system.
Other projects: Target, music and fireworks (with A. Blomquist, 1996-2000), Opus I, feature video (with A. Blomquist, 1996), Night Events, grand project of open-air night concerts at Gunnebo Castle (1996-99), Augmented Reality, four interactive audio&software installations (with 'Boxiganga' Theatre, 1999), Sonic Park, grand project of open-air sound installations for 48-channel sound system and light (2000), Strata, music and sound-design for dancers with movement monitoring system (2000-2002), Reality Revisited, music, video and software for interactive installation (with 'Boxiganga' ensemble, 2002).

Strings & Shadows. In this piece the strings of the harp act like gates that open up and let out a variety of other instrumental, quasi-instrumental and (sometimes) vocal sounds that flow in a constant stream of transformations. These timbral 'shadows' are complemented with a mirroring of the harp using a variety of synthesized string sounds. There is also, however, another kind of musical shadow present. A short melodic fragment from the soundtrack of a Greta Garbo film (Queen Christina) can be heard in a slightly distorted mirror-image of the harp in the middle section of the piece. In fact the whole melodic development of the harp part has been to a large extent derived from this melodic theme. Strings & Shadows is the poetic vision of an old dying actress, drawn into a last flowing sequence of dance through the shadows of her past, while death slowly appears as her partner in the last pas-de-deux.

The piece was written as a commission from nomus for Sofia Claro in 1993. In 1994 it received the 'Ars Electronica' Prize.