Gisle Kverndokk(1967)

Gisle Kverndokk studied composition with Olav Anton Thommessen, Lasse Thoresen and Alfred Janson at The Norwegian State Academy of Music, where he received his Master’s degree in 1994, and with John Corigliano and David Diamond at The Juilliard School in New York. In 1994 he attended the BMI Earl Hagen Film Scoring Workshop in Hollywood. He also studied film music composition at The University College of Lillehammer with Halldor Krogh, in 2013-14.

At the age of 15 he wrote a radio opera commissioned by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. The Norwegian State Academy of Music premiered his first full-scale opera «The Falcon Tower» in 1990. His next opera ”George’s Marvellous Medicine” was premiered by The Kristiansund Opera in 1995, and was awarded Work of the Year by The Norwegian Composers Society. It has since then been produced by The Norwegian Opera in Oslo, Opera Vest in Bergen, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Ringsakeroperaen and was presented at The Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany 1997. The Norwegian Broadcasting Company has also produced it as a radio production.

All the major orchestras in Norway has performed his works, among them The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and The Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. In the 1999-2000 season he was “Composer of the year” with The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. His “Selene” for orchestra was among the winners of The Juilliard Composers Competition 1992, and “Initiation” for violin and orchestra won 1. prize in the competition for composers under 30 in The 1993 Paris ROSTRUM. Stavanger Symphony Orchestra premiered his newest orchestral work “Symphonic Dances” in April 2014, as part of the 200th Anniversary Celebration of the Norwegian Constitution. They repeated it as the main work of the opening concert of their 2015/16 season.

He has written musicals for children, music for plays, revues and ballets. He has a regular collaboration with librettist Øystein Wiik, and their first musical “Sophie’s World” was premiered at The Schlossfestspiele Ettlingen, Germany, in 1998. The Norwegian premiere was in Oslo 1999, in Hangar 4 at Fornebu, in a theatre specially built for the occasion. Their next musical, “Vincent” had its world premiere at TheSchlossfestspiele Ettlingen, in June 2001.

In 2002 “Dangerous Liaisons” had its world premiere at Theater Pforzheim, Germany, and the musical “Homeless” was premiered at The Norwegian Theatre, Oslo, 2003. Theater Erfurt premiered the musical “Martin L.” at The Domstufen Festspiele in 2008. This work was nominated for The Nordic Music Prize. Wiik and Kverndokk’s musicals have been performed in numerous theatres all over Germany.

Their opera “Around the world in 80 days” was commissioned for the opening of the new opera house in Oslo and was premiered in May 2010. Their children’s operas “Max and Moritz” and “Supersize Girl” were commissioned by The New York Opera Society and was premiered in 2010 and 2013 in Washington DC.

“Bokken Lasson – stumbling success”, a radio opera with libretto by Ivar Tindberg and commissioned by The Norwegian State Broadcasting Company, won the Prix Italia in 2000. Their next collaboration, the opera “The fourth Watch of the Night” was premiered at The Norwegian National Opera in November 2005, and was awarded the Edvard Prize in 2006. It was revived in 2012 at the new opera house in Oslo, and was presented at The Savonlinna Opera festival, Finland, in August 2012.

Kverndokk’s newest opera, “Easter”, based on Strindberg’s play “Easter”, with libretto by Aksel-Otto Bull, was commissioned by Bergen National Opera, and had its world premiere in April 2014 at Opera Sør in Kristiansand.

Kverndokk is currently working on a new commission for The New York Opera Society, a church opera which is to be premiered at The St. Ignatius of Loyola Church in New York City in the spring, 2017. He is also working on a commission from Landestheater Linz in Austria for the 2016/17 season.

Kverndokk has also written the music for the Danish film, “Chinaman”, produced by Fine & Mellow in 2005.

Kverndokk has an extensive production of church music, written for and premiered by the leading church music ensembles in Norway; “Te Deum” (2009) for The Norwegian Soloists Choir, “Mass” (2007) for Nordic Voices, “Nidarosmesse” (2010) for The Nidaros Cathedral Choir and the church play “Sommerens Maria” (2011) written in collaboration with librettist Eyvind Skeie, for the The Nøtterøy Choir School.

Two new CD’s with Kverndokk’s church music was released in 2015 on the label Grappa;“Fuge der Zeit” performed by Nordic Voices and members of The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and “Sommerens Maria” performed by The Nøtterøy Choir School. The newspaper Klassekampen in Oslo called “Fuge der Zeit” some of the best vocal music ever written in Norway.

Kverndokk has also an extensive production of chamber music, and his new string quartet “La Nouvelle Athènes” was premiered by The Danish String Quartet in 2014 at The Hardanger Music Festival. Kverndokk’s latest chamber work, “Offertorium” for clarinet, cello and piano, was premiered at the Ultima Festival in Oslo in September 2015.

Gisle Kverndokk has worked extensively as a musician and has been music director of several music theatre productions in Norway, Germany, USA and Canada.

He was awarded Anders Jahre’s Cultural Prize for Young Artists and Wilhelm Hansen’s Legacy in 1997. In 1999 he received The Lily Boulanger Memorial Fund from Boston University. In 2010 he received a 3- years State Artist’s Scholarship.

Gisle Kverndokk is represented by

NB Noter, Oslo.

Josef Weinberger Musikverlage, Frankfurt.

Felix Bloch Erben, Berlin.

Musik & Bühne, Wiesbaden.

Kirkesangforlaget, Kristiansand.

Norsk Muskforlag, Oslo.

tel - office: +47-22568657 / cell: +47-9507487