Grieg in Bergen - Håkonshallen: ÅPNINGSKONSERT / OPENING CONCERT - ONE TRIO - ONE STRING QUARTET - ONE PIANO QUINTET

E. Grieg (1843-1907): Andante con motoB. Smetana (1824-1884): String Quartet No 1 E minor "From my Life"R. Schumann (1810-1856): Piano Quintet Eb Major Op 44

Birgitte Stærnes, violin
PhilipZuckerman, violin
Catherine Bullock, viola
Sverre Barratt-Due, cello
Thormod Rønning Kvam, piano

An opening concert with variations both in settings and format. Here we have piano trio, string quartet and piano quintet served in the one and same concert. And the works performed are just fabulous...

In recent years, Birgite Stærnes has given several concerts in Norway, Svalbard, France, Spain, Denmark and Estonia, the Canary Islands, Italy, the Czech Republic and Russia. She has parcipated in several festivals, including Fesvals in Bergen, Nordlysfesvalen, Vesoldfestspillene, Festival Celloarte and Classica& Dintorni. In recent years, she has been a soloist with orchestras in Norway, Brazil and Italy. Her concert at the Brighton Festival was described by critics as "the most exciting music on the festival." In May 2023, the release comes with a world premiere of the violin concerto "Fading Time" by Bjørn Bolstad Skjelbred. Together with guitarist Martin Haug, she formed the duo A Corda in 1997. The duo has since given a number of concerts at home and abroad and recorded four CDs with repertoire from Spanish and Latin American to classical chamber music.

The Spanish and Latin American music has given them concerts over large parts of the world, in Europe, China, Brazil and Uruguay. Birgite has played in prestigious halls such as Wigmore Hall, London, Rudolfinum, Prague, Rachmaninov Hall in Moscow and Salle Cortot in Paris. In 1998, Birgite released her debut CD with works by Christian Sinding together with the pianist Jorunn Marie Bratlie. Her CD with works by Johan Halvorsen was released in the spring of 2012 and has received excellent reviews, e.g. in "The Strad" and other international magazines. In 1989 she won 1st prize in the Roterdam International Violin Competition. She had her debut concert in the University's Aula in Oslo in 1991.

Birgite Stærnes has received the Yamaha prize for strings (1992), the Ticon prize (1997), in 1998 she received the State's 1-year work grant for young artists and in 2015 the State's 3-year work grant. She started playing the violin at the age of 6 and was a soloist with an orchestra for the first time when she was 12. Birgitte Stærnes is the artistic director of Johan Halvorsen Musikkfest. She plays a violin by Lorenzo e Tomasso Carcassi, Florence 1748.

Violinist Philip Zuckerman has been praised by audiences and critics for his "enchanting tone," "technical brilliance," and "charisma" (Badische Zeitung). Philip is the 1st Concertmaster of Turku Philharmonic Orchestra and is in demand as guest concertmaster in major orchestras such as Gothenburg Symphony and Tampere Philharmonic. As a soloist, Philip has performed in venues such as Lincoln Center's Alice Tully all, South Bank Centre in London, Bergen's Grieg Hall, Kurhaus Baden-Baden, Anneliese Brost Musikforum Ruhr, and Stockholm Concert Hall, and with orchestras such as Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Camerata Nova and Orchestra di Padova e del Veneto. An enthusiast of creating concert programs out of hidden masterpieces, Philip has given recitals in Stockholm Concert Hall's Grünewald Hall, Uppsala Konsert & Kongress, Palladium in Malmö, on Perlman Music Program's Stires-Stark Recital Series, and in Oslo's University Aula. Philip studied with Catherine Cho and Itzhak Perlman at The Juilliard School. Past teachers also include Natasha Beshulya, Per Enoksson, and Donald Weilerstein.

Catherine Bullock is solo violist in the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. She has previously been a soloist in the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Camerata Nordica. She has also been a soloist with a number of orchestras, including Kristiand Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, with conductors such as André Previn Marin Alsop and Herbert Blomstedt. In 2013 she was a soloist at the Proms. She has recorded several CDs for Simax. Catherine plays a Guadagnini viola from Dextra Music.

Cellist Sverre Barratt-Due studied cello at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Prof. Truls Mørk as his teacher and completed his master's degree with his debut concert in the University Hall in 2016. He plays regularly in the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, is a permanent member of the string quartet Quartetto Testosterone and the Edvard Munch Ensemble. Since 2017, Sverre has been employed by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra as co group leader.

Thormod Rønning Kvam is in the process of establishing himself as a pianist in the young, Scandinavian top tier. Performances in London's Wigmore Hall, the main stage of Den Norske Opera, Grünewaldsalen in Stockholm Konserthus, Harpa in Reykjavik, Grieghallen and at the Hardanger Musikkfest are some of the highlights from recent years. He has already been appointed an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music – an award given to alumni who 'make a difference through their professional work'. His debut album with music by Janáček will be released on LAWO Classics next year. Thormod also has a strong commitment to renewing the classical music heritage, work he does as artistic director of the Aula series, a chamber music initiative with concerts throughout the year in the University Hall in Oslo and at the cultural destination Ramme in Hvitsten - and soon in the University Hall in Bergen.