The Bergen Woodwind Quintet is a well-known woodwind quintet based in Bergen, Norway. The ensemble's members are the principal wind musicians of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, also known as Harmonien, which was founded in 1765 and is one of the world's oldest orchestral institutions. The quintet often conducts worldwide tours, performing for live audiences, conducting radio broadcasts, and holding master classes for music students.
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. He was a frequent guest conductor of his own works with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
The Tennessee Bassoon Quartet, formed in 1985, consists of bassoonists Keith McClelland, James Lotz, James Lassen and Michael Benjamin. The four, from Knoxville and Oak Ridge, Tennessee, formed the group to provide additional performance opportunities for their bassoon talents. They have performed primarily in Tennessee, North Carolina, and Kentucky with a repertoire that includes Renaissance music, jazz, Gilbert and Sullivan, Saint-Saëns, and Scott Joplin.
The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra is a Norwegian orchestra based in Bergen. Its principal concert venue is the Grieg Hall.
Andrew Litton is an American orchestral conductor. Litton is a graduate of The Fieldston School, and holds both undergraduate and master's degrees in music from Juilliard. His early teachers included John DeMaio. Litton was a participant in the Affiliate Artists Exxon-Arts Endowment Conductors Program. In 2003, he was awarded Yale University's Sanford Medal.
Ole Kristian Ruud is a Norwegian conductor.
Dan Welcher is an American composer, conductor, and music educator.
Arthur Weisberg was an American clarinetist, bassoonist, conductor, composer and author.
Sean Osborn is a former clarinetist of the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and a regular substitute in the clarinet section of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He has been a student of Stanley Hasty, Frank Kowalsky, and Eric Mandat.
Edward Palanker is an American clarinetist and university professor.
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 was a member of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Kork) from 1974 till 1979. He is a Professor at the Grieg Academy, University of Bergen. His repertoire includes all of the standard bassoon concerto and chamber music works, and Ruth Bakke’s Illuminations, John Williams’s The Five Sacred Trees, and Jean Françaix’s Concerto. Worldwide appearances include performances in Taiwan, Lithuania, and the Lincoln Center concert honoring the 50th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mr. Hannevold has presented master classes internationally and has served as a juror at bassoon competitions in Finland, France, Lithuania, Latvia, and the U.S. He has been a faculty member of the Aspen Music Festival and School since 1993. The spring of 2016 he celebrated 25 years of the Nordic Bassoon Symposium in Bergen, Norway. He studied with Arnulf Brachel in Oslo, Knut Sønstevold in Stockholm, and in the United States with Harold Goltzer and Louis Skinner. Mr. Hannevold’s latest CD, the highly acclaimed Music for Per includes Lassen’s Strange Interlude No. 3 in which he imitates rock-guitar riffs, as well as works by David Maslanka and Oivind Westby. He has studied conducting with Aldo Ceccato and Sergiu Celibidache.
Gro Schibsted Sandvik is a Norwegian flautist.
Howard Klug is an American clarinetist and university professor.
Fredrik Fors is a Swedish, classical music clarinetist. His album in the Juventus Les Nouveaux Musiciens series has been described as "one of the finest recitals of its kind".
Roger John Goeb was an American composer.
Ketil Hvoslef is a Norwegian composer. He is the son of composer Harald Sæverud.
The woodwind section, which consists of woodwind instruments, is one of the main sections of an orchestra or concert band. Woodwind sections contain instruments given Hornbostel-Sachs classifications of 421 and 422, but exclude 423
Georges Grisez was a French-born American clarinetist. He was an active soloist, recording artist, and orchestral musician.
Kerry Turner is an American composer and horn player. Turner is a recognized name in the horn and brass industry. Turner’s major ensembles with whom he performs include the American Horn Quartet, the Virtuoso Horn Duo, and the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra. Turner has performed internationally as a soloist and clinician. Turner also sings tenor in a semi-professional octet.
Jan Erik Mikalsen is a Norwegian composer of contemporary music, living in Oslo.
