Music Bio

My cellos and treble viol

I started playing the cello in 1987, and I was enthusiastically playing in orchestras and chamber music projects during my youth. I took the first part of my bachelor degree at the music conservatory in Kristiansand with Maja Birkeland as my cello teacher. While there, I also studied composition with Stig Nordhagen and baroque interpretation with Jan Erik Pettersen.

I then continued my studies at the Grieg academy in Bergen with Bjørg Værnes Lewis. I also spent a year in Örebro on exchange where I studied modern and baroque cello with Ingrid Morgan. As part of my Bachelor degree, I also studied pedagogy at the Grieg academy.

My interest in early music led me to study baroque interpretation and chamber music with Frode Thorsen and Hans Knut Sveen and baroque cello with Markku Luolajan-Mikkola at the Grieg academy. I went on with this line of study in Copenhagen with a master degree in early music. My baroque cello teacher there was Thomas Pitt, and I had the pleasure of having chamber music and performance practice lessons with many great musicians from all over Europe like for instance Christina Schornsheim, Hille Perl, Peter Spissky, Bjarte Eike, Andreas Arend, Rachel Podger, Jaroslaw Thiel and many more. I have also taken some chamber music and treble viol lessons with Cristiano Contadin at Esbjerg Musikkonservatorium after finishing my master in Copenhagen.

I have freelanced as a musician since 1999 and done all kinds of projects in diverse genres, but since 2004, I have focused mainly on early music. I have played with Nordic early music ensembles like Jutlandia Baroque, Esbjerg Tidlig Ensemble, Amarillis Consort, L’État libre du Neige, Hurra barockorkester, Holmens barokensemble, Musici Holbergensis, Stella Nuova etc. and played at Malmö opera, Palladium Baroque Festival and Fanø Internationale Guitarfestival. To read more, go to my concerts page.