Born 1959 in Hamar. Studied violin and viola in the class of prof. Leif Jorgensen at the Oslo Conservatory (Musikkonservatoriet) and the Norwegian State Academy of Music, then improved under the guidance of Max Rostal and Sandor Vega. Winner of a special prize for the performance of Bela Bartok's Viola Concerto at the International Competition in Budapest (1984), winner of the Maurice Vieu International Competition in Lille (1986).

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Actively promotes new music, is the first performer of concerts by Ragnar Söderlind, Erkki-Sven Tyuur, Rolf Wallin and Anders Eliasson, specially written for him. He has recorded on CD viola concertos by contemporary composers Vagn Holmboe (2011, with the Norrköping Orchestra), Poul Ruders (2015, with the Aarhus Orchestra) and Egil Hovland (2016, with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra).

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The violist's concerts have taken place on major stages in the world, such as the Musikverein in Vienna, Carnegie Hall in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, the Konzerthaus in Berlin and the Cologne Philharmonic. He has performed with leading orchestras and distinguished conductors, including Marc Albrecht, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Sylvain Cambrelin, Dennis Russell Davis, Daniele Gatti, Manfred Honeck, Krzysztof Penderecki, Okko Kamu, Arvid Jansons, Dmitry Kitayenko, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, Jan-Pascal Tortellier and many others.

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Participated in festivals in London (BBC Proms), Lockenhaus, Bad Kissingen, Schleswig-Holstein, Schwetzingen, Graz, Verbier, many festivals in Scandinavia. Various recordings of the musician were released by Simax, Naxos, Virgin Classics, NMC, Somm and Chandos.

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Artistic director of the Fjord Classics chamber music festival in Norway. Professor at the Norwegian State Academy of Music, visiting professor at the Royal Danish Conservatory in Copenhagen. In 2018, he was a jury member of the William Primrose International Violin Competition in the USA.

He plays the viola by the Italian master Gasparo da Salo (1590).