Jan Holmgren (April 25, 1939, Alno, Sweden - March 29, 1993, New York,
New York) was a composer for theatrical works of
Assotto Saint, his companion of 13
years. Jan Holmgren began writing music at age ten. After a tour of duty in the Swedish Army, he received musical education in Sweden and immigrated to the United States in 1965. He worked as a flight attendant for American Airlines for 25 years.
In 1980, Holmgren became lovers with the Haitian-American poet, writer and performer Assotto Saint (born Yves F. Lubin) (1957-1994), who also died of AIDS. Together they collaborated on a variety of artistic creations. Holmgren wrote songs for all of Saint's many theatre pieces on gay black life which they produced themselves for their Metamorphosis Theatre. They formed a "techno pop duo band," Xotika, for which Saint was lead singer. Xotika's dance song "Forever Gay" was released on the CD Feeding the Flame by Flying Fish Records in 1990.
Holmgren is usually credited as a composer under the names: Jaan Urban or Jan Urban.
Jan Holmgren died of AIDS in New York at the age of 53 on March 29, 1993. —Joseph Dalton
