Sveinung Bjelland, klaver

Sveinung Bjelland, blant de ledende unge norske pianister, suksess som solist med bl a Oslo Filharmoniske orkester, kritikerrost fra inn og utland for CD med Scarlatti og Mendelsson, studert i Salzburg og Berlin, kåret av Rikskonsertene til Årets Unge Musiker 1999, turner nå med Arve Tellefsen, Atle Sponberg m fl. Har ledet Glogerfestivalen på Kongsberg sammen med Isa K. Gericke 2002 -2008. 1. amanuensis/associated professor ved Norges musikkhøgskole.

The pianist Sveinung Bjelland has already for several years been in the forefront among classical pianists in Norway. His latest recording (Scarlatti and Mendelssohn on Simax) has been received with enthusiasm, in Norway and internationally. It was recently nominated for the Norwegian Grammy Award (Spellemannprisen 2006).

Musicweb International writes: 'These performances have many subtleties and the imagination of the coupling is reflected in the taste and imagination of the playing.' Classics Today also praises the recording, referring to 'Sveinung Bjelland's cultivated, imaginative, and poetic artistry', concluding: 'No self-respecting piano connoisseur should let this truly distinctive release slip away'. The recording has recently been nominated for the Norwegian Grammy
Award (Spellemannprisen 2006).
Sveinung Bjelland has most of his musical background from Central Europe, mainly through studies with Hans Leygraf at Mozarteum, Salzburg and Hochschule der Künste in Berlin. He finished his studies in Berlin with the highest degree and with distinction, and he put himself strongly on the map in 1999, when he was named ‘Young Musician of the Year’ by the Norwegian Concert Institute, this ranking beside numerous prizes he has been awarded.
After this he has developed into an unusually interesting, prolific and versatile artist. He has been a soloist with the leading Norwegian orchestras with distinguished guest conductors and visited various concert series and festivals in Europe, where he has made his mark just as much as a soloist as in a chamber music setting, performing with artists like Pahud, Collins, Mørk and Wispelwey.
His duo partnership with the young violinist Alina Pogostkin, the 2005 winner of the Sibelius Competition in Helsinki, has made a
particular impact. They have done a brilliant recording of Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Violin and Piano, adding to the pianist’s series of successful recordings, covering a wide and varied repertoire. In duo with Alina Pogostkin the pianist recently performed at the Helsinki Festival and the Beethovenfest in Bonn.
Sveinung Bjelland must have given listeners with preconceived notions quite some surprise when he recently featured in the violinist Atle Sponberg’s concert project ‘Atle Live’ on tour in Norway, and flung himself elegantly from J. S. Bach and Mozart to Argentine, Brazilian and jazzy piano virtuosity with the greatest ease, sounding as if he had done nothing other than play Latin American repertoire in the past.
In addition to being a frequent festival artist, Sveinung Bjelland was from 2002-2008 festival director himself – together with the soprano Isa Katharina Gericke. In a short time they developed the artistic profile of the Gloger Festival in Kongsberg into one of the most interesting among Norwegian music festivals, with the exquisite and inspiring space of the beautiful Kongsberg Church as its main arena. www.sveinungbjelland.com