International Edvard Grieg Conference, Bergen, 5 – 7 November 2025
The International Edvard Grieg Society (IGS), the Grieg Research Centre at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Music and Design, University of Bergen, Bergen Public Library and Kode – Composer Homes invite music researchers to the International Edvard Grieg Conference 2025.
Read more here
Welcome to the Grieg conference «Current Musical Heritage” in Bergen 17 to 19 November. Please register on post@griegsociety.com within 1 November if you plan to attend. Please also inform which days you will be present.
Current Musical Heritage, Bergen 17 to 19 November 2023
| Friday 17 November |
| 11.30 Opening and welcome note Bergen Public Library, Vårt Vestland Head of Bergen Public Library, Julie Andersland Head and Secretary of International Grieg Society, Arnulf Mattes and Monica Jangaard Short presentation of Grieg Collection by Jorunn Eckhoff Færden |
| 12.00 Lunch break Lunch for active participants Bergen Public Library |
| 12.45 – 14.15 Grieg in Performance 1 – Open lecture-recital with Are Sandbakken, Viola, Norway Bergen Public Library |
| 14.30 – 16.00 European Musical Heritage and Current National Challenges Academic paper session 1 14.30 – 15.00 Arnulf Mattes, Norway: Opening note – Musical heritage now? From archive storage to collective memory 15.00 – 15.30 Hans Weisethaunet, Norway: May we listen to Grieg without listening to Norway? 15.30 – 16.00 Barbara Dobretsberger, Austria: Who owns music? TONO or GEMA? Everybody? Nobody? |
| 16.00 – 16.15 Coffee break |
| 16.15 – 17.45 Academic paper session 1 (contin.) 16.15 – 16.45 Markéta Štefková, Slovakia: Béla Bartók and Slovakia 16.45 – 17.15 Margrethe Støkken Bue, Norway: Verkliste, Work Catalogue, Werkverzeichnis: A rose by any other name would smell as sweet 17.15 – 17.45 Thomas James Solomon, Norway: Revisiting Heritage |
| Saturday 18 November |
| 09.00 – 10.30 Academic paper session 2 Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Grieg Academy 09.00 – 9.30 Marla Fogderud, USA: The Origin of the Norwegian Compositional Voice: Halfdan Kjerulf and the Romanse 09.30 – 10.00 Wilhelm Sollie, Norway: Subjectivity and Objectivity: Exploring Aesthetic-Ideological Evolution in German Organ Culture through the Legacy of Karl Straube 10.00 – 10.30 Stephen Luksan, USA: Bjarne Rolseth in America: The Life and Work of a Norwegian-American Immigrant Composer 10.30-10.45: Coffee break |
| 10.45 – 11.45 Academic paper session 2 (contin.) Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Grieg Academy 10.45 – 11.15 Liubov Syniak, Ukraine: Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Edvard Grieg: Art outside politics? 11.15 – 11.45 Wojciech Stępień, Poland: Intertextuality in Igor Stravinsky’s Four Norwegian Moods |
| 11.45 – 12.15 Lunch break Lunch for active participants Grieg Academy |
| 12.15 – 13.30 Grieg in Performance 2: Project presentation with Anton Steck, violin, Germany and Christina Kobb, piano, Norway Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Grieg Academy Discussion |
| 13.30 – 14.00 Coffee break Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Grieg Academy |
| 14.00 – 15.30 Masterclass with Sigurd Slåttebrekk, piano, Norway Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Grieg Academy: Masterclass with students from the Grieg Academy: Sophie Pfarrhofer: Butterfly Op. 43, No. 6 Kateryna Persysta: Notturno Op. 54, No. 4 Marina Matsuoka: Piano Concerto in A-minor Op. 16, 1st Movement Discussion after masterclass, leader: Signe Bakke, piano, Norway |
| 15.30 – 17.00 Crossing Grieg Concert, presentation and talk Gunnar Sævigs Sal, Grieg Academy Håkon Asheim, Hardanger fiddle, Norway Nils Henrik Asheim, composer, piano, Norway Talk with Dániel Peter Biró, composer, Norway https://www.nilshenrikasheim.no/projects/30-crossing-grieg |
| Sunday 19 November |
| 10.00 – 11.30 IGS General Assembly Troldhaugen |
| 11.30 – 12.00 Coffee break Troldhaugen, café |
| 12.00 – 13.00 Academic paper session 3 Troldsalen 12.00 – 12.30 Per Dahl, Norway: Cultural colonization: Opus 5 no.3 as a case study 12.30 – 13.00 Jakub Polaczyk, USA: “Music from dreams – Sursynthesis” Auto Reflection on my recent works versus national European romantic traditions like: F. Chopin, E. Grieg, A. Dvorak. |
| 13.00 – 13.30 Lunch break Lunch for active participants Troldhaugen, café |
| 13.30 – 14.30 Academic paper session 3 (contin.) Troldsalen 13.30 – 14.00 Torkil Baden, Norway: Grieg and Peer Gynt 150 years: timeless stage music or ‘pain in the ass’ for theatre directors? 14.00 – 14.30 Sally Garden, Scotland: Grieg, Garborg and Lewis Grassic Gibbon: classical artsong in the landscapes and battlescapes of Norwegian and Scottish nation-building, past and present |
| 15.00 Grieg, Joachim and Schumann Concert with Anton Steck and Christina Kobb Villa, Troldhaugen Introduction by Monica Jangaard The concert is open to conference participants only. |
International Grieg Conference in Bergen, Norway 17 – 19 November 2023
The International Edvard Grieg Society, the Grieg Research Centre at the Faculty of Fine Arts – Music and Design University of Bergen and Kode Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen invite scholars, educators and performers to the Conference.
The conference takes place at the Grieg Academy, Bergen Public Library and Troldhaugen.
All applicants must pay for their own travel and accommodation. More practical information about program, conference venues, travel, and local accommodation will be sent to the participants in due time. Seminar sessions are free for all participants. Lunch will be covered for active participants.
For observing participants:
Please send name, country, e-mail address, and background information (studies, professional activities) to monica.jangaard@kodebergen.no.
Organizers:
The International Edvard Grieg Society, the Grieg Research Centre at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Music and Design University of Bergen, and Kode Art Museums and Composer Homes invite music researchers to the
Current Musical Heritage – International Edvard Grieg Conference
Bergen 17 - 19 November 2023
To Edvard Grieg, music always was part of a quest against the suppression of individuality and the imagination of people living in a free society. This year’s Grieg conferencewill, in the spirit of Grieg, address the value of musical heritage in relation to recent political developments that made an impact on how we conceive national sovereignty and common democratic values in Europe and all over the world.
We will welcome contributions revisiting musical heritage used as a tool for trans-national cultural understanding, nation building, and nation branding. This perspective requires a critical rethinking of musical icons such as Grieg and national musical heritage in times, where ‘borderless’ global culture is set up against long-standing national traditions, challenging inherited value systems and canons. This leads also to a revaluation of ‘classical art music’ and its relationship to local place, notions of belonging, and vernacular traditions.
Conference program, keynote speakers, and practical information for participants:
See conference web page on https://www.uib.no/en/griegresearch
Conference venues:
Troldhaugen (Kode Art Museums and Composer Homes)
Grieg Academy (University of Bergen)
Application procedures:
All applicants must pay for their own travel and accommodation. More practical information about program, conference venues, travel, and local accommodation will be sent to the participants in due time. Seminar sessions are free for all participants. Lunch will be covered for active participants.
Organizers:
The International Edvard Grieg Society
is a non-profit organisation, aiming to create a worldwide network of scholars, performers and music listeners who cherish the music of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.
Grieg Research Centre (UiB)
The Grieg Research Centre at University of Bergen does research on Edvard Grieg’s works, his historical importance and cultural relevance in the past and the present. The centre’s goal is further to contribute to international research on the diverse traditions in Norwegian music succeeding Grieg and the close exchanges between regional music and international currents.
Kode Art Museums and Composer Homes
Troldhaugen, Lysøen and Siljustøl, the homes of three of Norway’s greatest composers and artists through the times – Edvard Grieg, Ole Bull and Harald Sæverud – are a part of Kode, Art Museums and Composer Homes. Kode is one of the largest museums for art, craft, design and music in the Nordic countries.
The Grieg Academy – Faculty of Fine Art, Music, and Design, University of Bergen
The Grieg Academy – Department of Music was established at the University of Bergen in 1995 and is now one of three departments at the Faculty of Fine Art, Music and Design (KMD). Our profile is modelled on internationally recognised performing arts environments (classical, jazz, folk music), composition, music therapy, musicology and music education.