Charlie Siem

​Charlie Siem is considered among the most talented young violinists in the world today. In addition, he is half Norwegian! Siem tours all over the world, plays at the biggest festivals, and appears as  a soloist with the best orchestras. On 12 March he will be on stage in Drammens Teater to open the Johan Halvorsen Music Festival
His regular accompanist, the pianist Itamar Golan, will of course join him for the concert.
The program presents from the best classical repertoire can offer. Beethoven's great Kreutzer-Sonata in the first half of the concert and then virtuosic and beautiful pearls of
Wienavskij, Sarasate, Paganini, and of course Johan Halvorsen. Charlie opens Johan Halvorsen Musikkfest on 12 March in Drammens Theater together with pianist Itamar Golan.
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HÅVard Gimse

Håvard is originally from Kongsvinger. Gimse is educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music, the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the Academy of Music in Berlin. He has received numerous awards, and since 1992 has released more than 30 CD recordings, including for NAIM, Naxos, Sony, Chandos and Simax. Håvard Gimse has played in the biggest concert arenas all over the world, and is considered one of Norway's leading musicians.
On 15th of  March he performs Schumann's piano quintet in Børsen together with Sølve Sigerland, Henninge Landaas, Ellen Flesjø and Birgitte Stærnes



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TRIO SSENS


​Wednesday 15th of  March Ssens Trio plays in Børsen. The trio was started in 2014 by three musicians with a long career in international music life.
The trio has performed in collaboration with, among others, Geir Inge Lotsberg, Eivind Ringstad, Håvard Gimse and Leif Ove Andsnes.
Their first CD with Beethoven String Trios op.3 and 8 (LAWO Classics) received the "Supersonic award" (Pizzicato Magazine) and was nominated for the prestigious ICMA Award in 2018. The trio consists of:
Sølve Sigerland, violin, has devoted most of her musical work to chamber music development, but has also appeared as a soloist with several of the leading orchestras in the Nordic countries and  under conductors such as Andrew
Litton, Daniel Harding, and Walter Weller.
Henninge Landaas is a violist in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and was part of the internationally renowned Vertavo Quartet for a number of years, with tours in concert halls all over the world.
In 1987, Ellen Margrete Flesjø, violincello, is one of the founders of the famous  Grieg Trio. With this ensemble she has given concerts in Europe, the USA and Asia, and released CDs on EMI, Virgin and Simax Classics to excellent reviews.

THE TEnors And STEFFEN HORN

Pianist Steffen Horn and tenors David Fielder, Henrik Hundsnes and Aasmund Kaldestad have since the start in 2011 entertained audiences all over the country with their mix of humor and musical quality. The three trained singers give you a varied menu at this year's Champagne concert on 17 March.
Steffen Horn, piano, has studied with professor Jiri Hlinka at the Barratt Due music institute in Oslo, where he completed his soloist diploma with highest distinction. His debut concert in the University Hall in Oslo gained brilliant reviews, and he also made a very successful solo debut in London's Wigmore Hall
David Fielder is from Järna in Sweden, but lives in Oslo. He is educated at the University of North Texas in Denton, the Grieg Academy in Bergen and the Opera Academy in Oslo. He has done over 50 roles in musicals, operettas and operas.
Henrik Hundsnes has studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music and Conservatorium van Amsterdam. He is a very versatile singer with broad experience as a concert singer of both oratorios and baroque opera.
Aasmund Kaldestad studied under Marit Storækre and Vesla Tvedte at the University of Stavanger and went on to take the Diploma in Solo Singing at The Royal Academy and Music in London with Ian Partridge as teacher. He has broad experience from both stage and concerts with appearances in various TV programmes. He has also won the comedy prize in the group Nordic Tenors in 2006.

Brynjar W. Kolbergsrud

Brynjar W. Kolbergsrud is the solo trumpeter in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He started playing the cornet in Røyken School's Music Corps. At the age of fourteen, Brynjar began taking lessons with Arnulf N. Nielsen, then alternating solo trumpeter in the Oslo Philharmonic.
Later there were studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and two schools in New York, Mannes College of Music and Manhattan School of Music. For thirteen years he worked as a solo trumpet player in Norrköping and Malmö before returning to Norway and Oslo in 2014.

​ANBJØRG LIEN/ROGER TALLROTH

Annbjørg Lien, hardanger fiddle,  is one of our largest export items in folk music and world music. The highly sought-after fiddle player from Mauseidvåg in Sunnmøre grew up with one foot in folk music and one in classical violin music. She crosses musical genre boundaries with the greatest elegance. She has collaborated with a wide range of musicians from home and abroad and has released several albums that are characterized by many as world music.
Swedish Roger Tallroth is a unique folk guitarist. He is inventive like few others, distinctive and sonorous guitar playing is his trademark.
He has developed his own way of tuning his 12-string guitar, which has been picked up worldwide.
Tuesday 14 March in Strømsø church.

Håkon Kornstad Trio

 There are not very many artists in the world who have made the leap from jazz saxophonist to an opera singer, and if possible even fewer who can get away with it. But Håkon Kornstad skates on thin ice with the utmost naturalness. As a saxophonist, he is unique with tone and control that few can match. As a singer, he is a lyrical tenor who alternates between Italian operatic bravura and beautiful, Nordic restraint. In the Håkon Kornstad Trio, he joins rock-solid Mats Eilertsen, bass,  and avant-garde accordeonist Frode Haltli. A jazz trio with accordion, saxophone and bass, which continues where Kornstad's critically acclaimed "Tenor Battle" album from 2015 left off.
​Drammens Theatre, Fjerde Losjerad, Saturday 18 March.

Marinemusikken

​The Royal Norwegian Navy's music band is based at Karljohansvern in Horten and was established in 1820. Together with the Armed Forces' staff music band, the Marine Music Band is the band with the most assignments on behalf of the Royal house, the government and the Norwegian Parliament. The corps also works closely with other military departments throughout Eastern Norway.
The orchestra is a popular and unique ensemble, which with its 27 professional musicians performs concerts here at home and abroad - including in the USA, Vietnam, Russia, France, China and Spain. Several times the corps has been to Afghanistan and played for Norwegian and foreign forces. The band has held concerts with musical celebrities in virtually all musical genres.
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OLA Bremnes

Ola started his career in a duo with his sister Kari already in 1980. Their first album has the same title as Ola's very first self-composed backing track. The lyrics in “Folk i husan” was written by Ola and Kari's father Ole H. Bremnes, so you could perhaps say that he was the one who started it all. In the 35 years that have passed since then, Ola has developed into one of the country's most in-demand performing artists. He has written iconic songs such as Sang til byen, Sola, Jordmorsang, Båtbyggar Jo, Mannen i ausa and Har du fyr. In addition, he has contributed texts to countless performances and books, and collaborated with musicians, writers, visual artists and choirs across the country. Ola is the older brother of the sibling trio Kari, Ola and Lars Bremnes

Christoper Tun Andersen

Christopher Tun Andersen was only 15 years old when he made his debut with the St. Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Dir. Alexander Kantorov. Since then he has played with this orchestra in St. Petersburg's legendary concert halls and performed violin concertos by Mendelssohn, Tchaikovsky and Brahms.
Christopher has done his master's degree and professional studies with Pinchas Zukerman (Pinchas Zukerman Performance Program) at the Manhattan School of Music, one of the world's leading music education institutions.
Christopher is a prize-winning participant in several international violin competitions, e.g. XV International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow in 2015. He has won 2nd prize in the International Violin Competition in Wörthersee Austria in 2007, 1st prize in the largest national violin competition in Germany "Jugend Musiziert" the same year and the Heifetz prize in the IV International Jascha Heifetz Violin Competition in 2013. In the year 2020 he received 1st prize in the Serguei Azizian violin competition in Copenhagen.
Christopher has also been a soloist with international orchestras such as the Berliner Symphony in the Berlin Philharmonic, the Glinka Capella in St.Petersburg, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Moscow Chamber ​

The Woodpeckers

The Woodpeckers Recorder Quartet is a dynamic group of musicians, who all share the same passion for highlighting both old and new music. They met during their studies for Dan Laurin at the King's College, The Academy of Music in Stockholm. After completing their diploma studies, they have continued to play together and with roots in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Ireland, the Woodpeckers have shown that they have something special to offer. Their repertoire ranges from the Middle Ages to the present day with a fondness for baroque music and newly written music. They aim to present the recorder in a completely new context and therefore collaborate with young talented composers from Scandinavia and Europe to develop the recorder's repertoire and expressive possibilities. They play in Nedre Eiker church on Monday 13 March!

Guro LØDEMEL

In 2003, Guro started her studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo on the Candidate's course in performing, classical singing with Folke Bengtsson, Professor Barbro Marklund-Petersone and Håkan Hagegård as singing teachers.
In the spring of 2010, Guro completed her Master's degree in performing, classical singing at the Norwegian Academy of Music with professor Barbro Marklund-Petersone, with the highest result possible.
Guro has taken parts of her Master's degree in Lyon, France at the Conservatoire Nationale Supérieur de musique et de danse Lyon with Professor Francoise Pollet. Throughout her master's studies, she has also been taught by Professor Håkan Hagegård, Professor Randi Stene and Mona Julsrud.

Knut Harald Sommerfeldt

Knut Harald started playing the violin at the age of seven. Eventually it became sports and he received a sports scholarship in the United States. He took his fiddle and went "across the pond" where he became a four-time Big-twelve Champion and for a period was ranked among the fifty best athlets in the world . There have also been some Norwegian championships and Knut Harald has represented Norway internationally. He has been a fiddler all his life. Knut Harald played a solo for Queen Sonja as a fourteen-year-old with his mother on the piano. In the USA, he won "The emerging artist" two years in a row in Missouri. Conjuring was a hobby that was eventually perfected and today he entertains large and small companies with a unique combination of music, conjuring, ventriloquism and a lot of humor, in Norwegian or English! Union Stage Saturday 18 March.

Hannah Agnethe Pold

sings opera repertoire, romances and church music. She has a bachelor's degree in classical singing from the Barratt Due Music Institute, a master's degree from the Opera Academy in Oslo/ and in Florence.
With her lyrical, dramatic voice, she works with roles such as Donna Elvira (Mozart), Fiordeligi (Mozart) and Mimi (Puccini). She has also sung a lot of church music, recently Messias (Händel), several requiems (Mozart, Brahms, Fauré).
Hannah grew up in Drammen, and has been part of the choir environment in Bragernes Church since she was seven years old.
With support from the Culture Council/Directorate of Culture, Hannah has the opportunity to work with singing teachers and coaches in Florence, London and Oslo. She has also received support from Sparebanken Øst and Tom Wilhelmsen's Foundation.

Birgitte Stærnes

 has performed in France, England, Spain, Spitsbergen, Denmark, the Canary Islands
Islands, Czech Republic, Italy, Estonia, USA, Russia and South America. She has played at the major festivals in Norway. She is regularly invited to festivals in Europe. Her concerts and CDs have been featured in major magazines and newspapers such as The Gramophone, Musical
Opinion, The Strad ... Aftenposten, Dagbladet and VG.
Birgitte is strongly devoted to chamber music and has played
in halls such as Salle Cortot, Paris, Wigmore Hall, Purcel Room, London, Rudolfinum, Prague ...

ITAMAR GOLAN

For more than two decades, Itamar Golan has collaborated with the most outstanding instrumentalists of our time. His work has earned him brilliant reviews and he is one of the most in-demand pianists of his generation, playing on the most prestigious stages around the world.
Born in Vilnius, Lithuania, his family emigrated to Israel when he was one year old. There he started his musical studies and at the age of 7 he held his first concerts in Tel-Aviv.
He was repeatedly awarded grants from the American-Israel Cultural Foundation, which enabled him to study with Emanuel Krasovsky and his chamber music mentor, Chaim Taub.
Since his earliest years, Itamar Golan's passion has been chamber music, but he has also performed as a soloist with some of the greatest orchestras, including the Israel Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic under the direction of Zubin Mehta, the Royal Philharmonic under the direction of Daniele Gatti, the Orchestra Philharmonica della Scala, The Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Riccardo Muti and the Philarhomia Orchestra under the direction of Lorin Maazel.
Over the years he has collaborated with Vadim Repin, Maxim Vengerov, Julian Rachlin, Mischa Maisky, Shlomo Mintz, Ivry Gitlis, Ida Haendel, Kyung Wha Chung, Sharon Kam, Janine Jansen, Martin Frost and Torleif Thedeen among many others
 

OLE Jørn Myklebust

For the past 20 years, Ole Jørn Myklebust has been a prominent figure in Norwegian music life, both as a musician, producer, composer and band leader. He has several solo releases  within the jazz and other music genres, and has led a number of large projects at home and abroad. He has worked extensively with Sami music, i.a. as a permanent member of the Mari Boine band since 2006, and he has also collaborated closely with artists such as Jonas Fjeld, Unni Wilhelmsen and Ingrid Olava, both as a producer and musician.

Musikknerdene

The Music Nerds
consists of composer Bendik Sells, conductor Jacob Beranek Hvattum and music theorist Haakon Støring. Through
MusikkNerdPodden they deal with various topics and explore these with theoretical, historical, educational and philosophical lenses with the intention of enriching us both as listeners, performers and creators of music.
At the Halvorsen Musikkfest, they will introduce and let us get to know the works that will be played at the Chamber Music concert in Børsen on 15th of March

Gjermund Silset

 Gjermund works within the range of jazz, pop and world music, - both as a bassist, arranger, composer and producer.
He is a versatile musician and has played with many musicians and artists. He is often hired as a studio musician and has taken part in around 150 record releases, - both Norwegian and foreign. Gjermund started his professional career as a permanent member of the Mari Boine Band (1988-1998).
He has otherwise collaborated extensively with artists such as Kari Bremnes, Ola Bremnes, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Odd Nordstoga, Ingebjørg Bratland, and Rita Eriksen.
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Mari Askvik

Mari Askvik has a master's degree in opera from the Opera Academy in Oslo and a bachelor's degree in classical singing and opera from the Opera Academy in Oslo, the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Grieg Academy in Bergen. She has studied with, among others, Harald Bjørkøy, Svein Bjørkøy and Randi Stene. Mari performs soloist parts in oratorios and church musical works both at home and abroad, with a repertoire that extends from baroque to contemporary music. She also regularly performs concerts with elements of Norwegian folk music, and especially Norwegian folk tone hymns. In February 2019, she released a CD called Of Light And Dust (LAWO Classics) together with the Chamber Choir NOVA and the conductors Yuval Weinberg and Tore Erik Mohn with, among other things, this repertoire.