Griegakademiet
Encyclopedia
The Grieg Academy is a name currently shared by music programs at two higher education institutions in Bergen
, Norway
. One prominent institution, which until recently has referred to itself in English as the "Grieg Institute" (or "Griegakademiet - Institutt for musikk" in Norwegian) is the music conservatory
in Bergen, Norway
and a department of the University of Bergen
, also known as UiB. However, the institution that has for the longest been called "Griegakademiet" in Norwegian - and "Grieg Academy" in English - is the music education department now incorporated into Bergen University College
, also known as HiB. "Griegakademiet" has appeared for many years in official documents and on signs for main entrances and hallways to the music department of Bergen University College
(HiB), which is the largest music education program in Norway (with alumni of over 1000 music teachers), offering Bachelor and Master degrees and teacher certification, and HiB is the "Grieg Academy" that in 2002 hosted one of the world's largest music education
conferences. The previously mentioned UiB music department, in contrast to the HiB music department, used to be called the "Bergen Conservatory," and now has a slightly larger number of full-time music faculty, emphasizes elite performance studies rather than music education, and is more centrally-located in downtown Bergen
.
Although the scenario of a shared name might appear to suggest competing interests (and indeed there was resistance to a full merger in the 1990s), several instructors now teach music concurrently at both institutions, and a healthy partnership is evident between musicians and programs at these two schools which have rather different emphases. According to the history explained in Norwegian on the Grieg Academy-UiB’s official website, “towards the end of the 1980s, the conservatory faced major restructuring, and a government report recommended closer cooperation with the University of Bergen. In the autumn of 1995, Nina Grieg's 150th birthday and 90 years after Torgrim Castberg first opened the Music Academy, the Conservatoire was founded as an ‘institute’ at the University of Bergen, and ‘Grieg Academy’ was established as a ceiling (or umbrella ...) of all music education programs under both the University of Bergen and Bergen University College.” The Grieg Academy is, therefore, now spread across two institutions, University of Bergen
and Bergen University College
, with some forms of collaboration. The name Grieg may be traced to Norway's most famous composer Edward Grieg, a native son of Bergen
, and the tradition of naming music schools after famous composers is evident across Europe, including the Sibelius Academy
, Liszt Academy, and Mozarteum, to name but a few prominent examples.
Grieg Academy-UiB. The Music department of the University of Bergen
(or "UiB"), was founded in 1905
as the Bergen Musikkonservatorium (Bergen Music Conservatory) by T. Castberg. It offers 4-year undergraduate programs in Performance
, Composition
and Pedagogy
/Music Education, and also 2-year Masters programs in Performance, Composition and Ethnomusicology
. The Academy maintains a population of approximately 160 students, A permanent staff of 25 and numerous part-time faculty. The Griegakademiet-Institutt for musikk has also partnered itself with two of the elite bands in the Hordaland
area: the brass band
Eikanger-Bjørsvik
Musikklag and the wind band Dragefjellets Musikkorps
(Bergen Symphonic Band). Many faculty members are also members and principal players of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
. Notable faculty include professor Per Hannevold
(bassoon
and orchestral studies), professor (II) Gro Schibsted Sandvik
(flute
), guitarist Stein-Erik Olsen, professor Brynjulf Stige (music therapist), Tom Solomon (ethnomusicologist), and professor Harald Bjørkøy
(voice
). Alumni from the Academy include Leif Ove Andsnes
, Harald Sæverud
, and Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
.
Grieg Academy-HiB. The original "Grieg Academy" - the music department in the Faculty of Education at Bergen University College
(or HiB) - is the largest music education
degree program in Norway, and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees primarily for those who plan to become music teachers, music teacher educators, or arts researchers and cultural policy
-makers. Although its emphasis is on music education rather than performance studies, the faculty includes performers, composers, conductors, and musicologists, and supports an affiliated Center for Arts, Culture, and Communication to foster research in the arts, for which PhD students are frequently in residence. New Professors Stig A. Eriksson (theatre arts) and David G. Hebert (sociomusicologist) have recently been hired for this Center, headed by Professor Aslaug Nyrnes. Other notable music Professors and Lecturers at HiB include Eiliv Olsen, Thorolf Krüger, Tiri Bergesen Schei, Catharina Christophersen, Torunn Bakken Hauge, and Njål Vendenes. The campus is currently located in Landås
, a suburb of Bergen, but its new 51,000 square metre building for the entire Faculty of Education (including performing arts facilities) is now under construction at a convenient location just south of downtown Bergen, with expected completion projected to 2013. The HiB Faculty of Education currently has 2300 students and 150 staff members (around 20 of whom are full-time in music at Griegakademiet), and music is the largest graduate program offered by the Faculty. New PhD programs are also under development, as indicated in HiB's strategic plan. The Griegakademiet at Landås
has produced several of Norway’s most renowned songwriters and rock musicians, including leaders of Kaizers Orchestra
and Odd Nordstoga
, and is often given some credit for the recent “Bergen Wave
" of popular music.
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. One prominent institution, which until recently has referred to itself in English as the "Grieg Institute" (or "Griegakademiet - Institutt for musikk" in Norwegian) is the music conservatory
Music school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
in Bergen, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and a department of the University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
, also known as UiB. However, the institution that has for the longest been called "Griegakademiet" in Norwegian - and "Grieg Academy" in English - is the music education department now incorporated into Bergen University College
Bergen University College
Bergen University College is a Norwegian public institution of higher education, established in August 1994 by the merging of six former independent colleges in Bergen, Norway.The College is organised in 3 faculties:*Faculty of Education...
, also known as HiB. "Griegakademiet" has appeared for many years in official documents and on signs for main entrances and hallways to the music department of Bergen University College
Bergen University College
Bergen University College is a Norwegian public institution of higher education, established in August 1994 by the merging of six former independent colleges in Bergen, Norway.The College is organised in 3 faculties:*Faculty of Education...
(HiB), which is the largest music education program in Norway (with alumni of over 1000 music teachers), offering Bachelor and Master degrees and teacher certification, and HiB is the "Grieg Academy" that in 2002 hosted one of the world's largest music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
conferences. The previously mentioned UiB music department, in contrast to the HiB music department, used to be called the "Bergen Conservatory," and now has a slightly larger number of full-time music faculty, emphasizes elite performance studies rather than music education, and is more centrally-located in downtown Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
.
Although the scenario of a shared name might appear to suggest competing interests (and indeed there was resistance to a full merger in the 1990s), several instructors now teach music concurrently at both institutions, and a healthy partnership is evident between musicians and programs at these two schools which have rather different emphases. According to the history explained in Norwegian on the Grieg Academy-UiB’s official website, “towards the end of the 1980s, the conservatory faced major restructuring, and a government report recommended closer cooperation with the University of Bergen. In the autumn of 1995, Nina Grieg's 150th birthday and 90 years after Torgrim Castberg first opened the Music Academy, the Conservatoire was founded as an ‘institute’ at the University of Bergen, and ‘Grieg Academy’ was established as a ceiling (or umbrella ...) of all music education programs under both the University of Bergen and Bergen University College.” The Grieg Academy is, therefore, now spread across two institutions, University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
and Bergen University College
Bergen University College
Bergen University College is a Norwegian public institution of higher education, established in August 1994 by the merging of six former independent colleges in Bergen, Norway.The College is organised in 3 faculties:*Faculty of Education...
, with some forms of collaboration. The name Grieg may be traced to Norway's most famous composer Edward Grieg, a native son of Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, and the tradition of naming music schools after famous composers is evident across Europe, including the Sibelius Academy
Sibelius Academy
The Sibelius Academy is a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It also has an adult education centre in Järvenpää and a training centre in Seinäjoki. The Academy is the only music university in Finland. It is among the biggest European music universities...
, Liszt Academy, and Mozarteum, to name but a few prominent examples.
Grieg Academy-UiB. The Music department of the University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...
(or "UiB"), was founded in 1905
1905 in music
-Events:*January 26 - Arnold Schoenberg's symphonic poem Pelleas und Melisande is premiered in Vienna.*January 29 - Gustav Mahler's Kindertotenlieder is premiered in Vienna.*October 15 - Claude Debussy's La Mer is premiered in Paris....
as the Bergen Musikkonservatorium (Bergen Music Conservatory) by T. Castberg. It offers 4-year undergraduate programs in Performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
, Composition
Musical composition
Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...
and Pedagogy
Pedagogy
Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
/Music Education, and also 2-year Masters programs in Performance, Composition and Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology is defined as "the study of social and cultural aspects of music and dance in local and global contexts."Coined by the musician Jaap Kunst from the Greek words ἔθνος ethnos and μουσική mousike , it is often considered the anthropology or ethnography of music...
. The Academy maintains a population of approximately 160 students, A permanent staff of 25 and numerous part-time faculty. The Griegakademiet-Institutt for musikk has also partnered itself with two of the elite bands in the Hordaland
Hordaland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Telemark and Rogaland. Hordaland is the third largest county after Akershus and Oslo by population. The county administration is located in Bergen...
area: the brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
Eikanger-Bjørsvik
Eikanger-Bjørsvik
The Eikanger-Bjørsvik band is a brass and percussion ensemble from the municipality of Lindås, Norway. They are probably the best known brass band in Norway and have won the National brass band championships eleven times...
Musikklag and the wind band Dragefjellets Musikkorps
Dragefjellets Musikkorps
Dragefjellets Musikkorps, also known as the Bergen Symphonic Band is an elite division amateur wind band in Bergen, Norway.It traces its beginnings from 1909 as the band at the Dragefjellet School. On September 1, 1914, it was formed as Norway's first amateur wind band by older members from the...
(Bergen Symphonic Band). Many faculty members are also members and principal players of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is one of the world's oldest orchestral institutions. It performs some 110 concerts a year, and is based at the 1,500-seat Grieg Hall in Bergen, Norway.-History:...
. Notable faculty include professor Per Hannevold
Per Hannevold
Per Hannevold, born 1953, is a member of the Bergen Woodwind Quintet and has been principal bassoon of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra since 1979. He is a Professor at the Grieg Academy, University of Bergen. In 1995 with the Bergen Philharmonic he presented the world premiere of Illuminations, a...
(bassoon
Bassoon
The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family that typically plays music written in the bass and tenor registers, and occasionally higher. Appearing in its modern form in the 19th century, the bassoon figures prominently in orchestral, concert band and chamber music literature...
and orchestral studies), professor (II) Gro Schibsted Sandvik
Gro Schibsted Sandvik
Gro Schibsted Sandvik is a Norwegian flutist.She is a member of the Bergen Woodwind Quintet and served as solo flutist in the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra from 1967 until 2005...
(flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
), guitarist Stein-Erik Olsen, professor Brynjulf Stige (music therapist), Tom Solomon (ethnomusicologist), and professor Harald Bjørkøy
Harald Bjørkøy
Harald Bjørkøy is a Norwegian tenor from Trondheim, Norway. He made his debut in 1982 and has since then been singing concerts in Europe and in the USA. In 1991 he made his debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York...
(voice
Voice
Voice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
). Alumni from the Academy include Leif Ove Andsnes
Leif Ove Andsnes
Leif Ove Andsnes is a Norwegian pianist and an ardent champion of the works of Edvard Grieg.-Biography:He studied with Jiří Hlinka at the Bergen Music Conservatory and made his debut in Oslo in 1987, in Britain at the Edinburgh Festival with the Oslo Philharmonic in 1989, and in the United States...
, Harald Sæverud
Harald Sæverud
Harald Sigurd Johan Sæverud was a Norwegian composer. He is most known for his music to Henrik Ibsen's Peer Gynt, Rondo Amoroso, and the Ballad of Revolt . Sæverud wrote nine symphonies, and a large number of pieces for solo piano...
, and Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen
Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen is a contemporary Norwegian composer.- Life :Aagaard-Nilsen grew up in Kabelvåg on Lofoten in northern Norway. From 1986 to 1990 he studied at the Bergen Conservatory of Music and at the University of Bergen...
.
Grieg Academy-HiB. The original "Grieg Academy" - the music department in the Faculty of Education at Bergen University College
Bergen University College
Bergen University College is a Norwegian public institution of higher education, established in August 1994 by the merging of six former independent colleges in Bergen, Norway.The College is organised in 3 faculties:*Faculty of Education...
(or HiB) - is the largest music education
Music education
Music education is a field of study associated with the teaching and learning of music. It touches on all domains of learning, including the psychomotor domain , the cognitive domain , and, in particular and significant ways,the affective domain, including music appreciation and sensitivity...
degree program in Norway, and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees primarily for those who plan to become music teachers, music teacher educators, or arts researchers and cultural policy
Cultural policy
Cultural Policy is the area of public policy-making that governs activities related to the arts and culture. Generally, this involves fostering processes, legal classifications and institutions which promote cultural diversity and accessibility, as well as enhancing and promulgating the artistic,...
-makers. Although its emphasis is on music education rather than performance studies, the faculty includes performers, composers, conductors, and musicologists, and supports an affiliated Center for Arts, Culture, and Communication to foster research in the arts, for which PhD students are frequently in residence. New Professors Stig A. Eriksson (theatre arts) and David G. Hebert (sociomusicologist) have recently been hired for this Center, headed by Professor Aslaug Nyrnes. Other notable music Professors and Lecturers at HiB include Eiliv Olsen, Thorolf Krüger, Tiri Bergesen Schei, Catharina Christophersen, Torunn Bakken Hauge, and Njål Vendenes. The campus is currently located in Landås
Landås
Landås is a neighbourhood in the city of Bergen, Norway. Landås is located by the western side of the Ulriken mountain massif, from south-east of Haukeland University Hospital to Nattland almost 3 km further south. It was the last part of former Årstad municipality to be urbanised, the...
, a suburb of Bergen, but its new 51,000 square metre building for the entire Faculty of Education (including performing arts facilities) is now under construction at a convenient location just south of downtown Bergen, with expected completion projected to 2013. The HiB Faculty of Education currently has 2300 students and 150 staff members (around 20 of whom are full-time in music at Griegakademiet), and music is the largest graduate program offered by the Faculty. New PhD programs are also under development, as indicated in HiB's strategic plan. The Griegakademiet at Landås
Landås
Landås is a neighbourhood in the city of Bergen, Norway. Landås is located by the western side of the Ulriken mountain massif, from south-east of Haukeland University Hospital to Nattland almost 3 km further south. It was the last part of former Årstad municipality to be urbanised, the...
has produced several of Norway’s most renowned songwriters and rock musicians, including leaders of Kaizers Orchestra
Kaizers Orchestra
Kaizers Orchestra is a Norwegian alternative rock group formed on January 1, 2000. The two leading members, vocalist Janove Ottesen and guitarist Geir Zahl, had known each other for years, and first played together in a band called Blod, Snått & Juling in 1989.Kaizers Orchestra are notable for...
and Odd Nordstoga
Odd Nordstoga
Odd Nordstoga is a musician, actor and editor from Vinje in Telemark, Norway. In 2004, he went from relative obscurity to becoming the country's biggest selling recording artist, with the phenomenal success of his first solo album proper, "Luring"...
, and is often given some credit for the recent “Bergen Wave
Bergen Wave
The Bergen Wave was a term used by the Norwegian press for the emergence of successful bands from Bergen in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. Several of these artists gained international breakthroughs, which was uncommon for Norwegian music at that time...
" of popular music.