Concert to celebrate Norway

Concert to celebrate Norway’s centennial

BY MARGOT DIMOND
Rice News staff

The Shepherd School of Music will celebrate the 2005 centennial of Norway’s independence with a commemorative all-Grieg concert at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 1, in Duncan Recital Hall.

The concert is presented in collaboration with the Norwegian Consulate of Houston and features Norwegian violinist Tor Johan Bøen, who completed his doctor of music arts degree at the Shepherd School in December, and pianist Jason Hardink, a doctoral student, playing original instruments: a Hardanger fiddle and an 1853 Bösendorfer piano.

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) is considered Norway’s greatest composer. The Shepherd School program will include three of his works: “Sonata for Piano and Violin in F Major, Op. 8,” “Sonata for Piano and Violin in G Major, Op. 13” and “Slatter Norwegian Peasant Dances, Op. 72.”

Bøen made his violin debut in Oslo in 1993, performing as soloist in both the Beethoven and Lutoslawski violin concerti. He has appeared as soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic, Stavanger Symphony, Trondheim Symphony, Madrid Radio Symphony, San Francisco Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, Risør Festival Strings and Shepherd School of Music Chamber Orchestra. In 1997 and 1998 Bøen was invited to play at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco on the Jascha Heifetz “David” Guarnerius violin, and subsequently to perform the complete solo sonatas for violin by Eugène Ysaÿe. A graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, he has been performing with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra since 1988.

Hardink lives in Salt Lake City, where he holds the position of symphony keyboard at the Utah Symphony and Opera. For the past three summers, he has served as the pianist of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, with which he has premiered more than 15 works. His performing interests as a soloist range from programs given on period instruments to recitals devoted to new music for piano. He graduated with a bachelor of music degree from Oberlin Conservatory and went on to receive his master of music degree in piano performance from Rice University. He has been awarded fellowships at Aspen Music Festival, as well as from the Brown Foundation in Houston. This season he will be performing Olivier Messiaen’s “Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus” in several cities around the country.