Ulla Birgitta Gunnarsdotter Bäckström (née Essvik), born on September 17, 1941, in Skara, is a Swedish composer, lyricist, educational author, and children’s choir director. Trained as a primary school teacher, she worked in various cities across Sweden from 1963 to 2007 while gradually developing a parallel path as a composer of songs and musical fairy tales for children.
Her first songbook, Hej på dej skolan!, was published in 1991 by Gehrmans Musikförlag and followed by several others with Gehrmans and Wessmans Musikförlag. In total, she has written around 150 songs, some also aimed at adult choirs. Birgitta has also authored teaching materials in Swedish, English, and individualized learning for young students.
Despite having no formal music education, she has led several children’s choirs, including DISSMå, Vokalerna (1990–2006), and GoDISS (2007–2017). Her choirs performed widely and collaborated with professional musicians. In recent years, she has remained active in a senior choir as both singer and assistant conductor, and continues to compose music, now also for older voices.