After many years as a professional musician followed by conducting studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Sibelius Academy, Ole Kristian Ruud made his conducting debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985. Ruud was artistic director and principal conductor of Trondheim Symphony Orchestra from 1987 to 1995, and principal conductor of Norrköping Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 1999; from 2000 to 2003 he was artistic director of Stavanger Symphony Orchestra’s Norwegian profile, and in 2006 he became…
After many years as a professional musician followed by conducting studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Sibelius Academy, Ole Kristian Ruud made his conducting debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985.
Ruud was artistic director and principal conductor of Trondheim Symphony Orchestra from 1987 to 1995, and principal conductor of Norrköping Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 1999; from 2000 to 2003 he was artistic director of Stavanger Symphony Orchestra’s Norwegian profile, and in 2006 he became artistic director of the Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces.
Ruud frequently appears as a guest conductor with several Scandinavian orchestras: the Oslo and Bergen philharmonic orchestras, the Trondheim, Lahti and Norrköping symphony orchestras, the Norwegian and Swedish radio orchestras, and Stockholm Chamber Orchestra. He has also been invited to conduct orchestras in France, Spain, England, USA and Japan; following his Tokyo debut with the Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra in 1990 he has been a regular guest conductor. On several occasions he has toured with various orchestras in Japan and Europe, visiting cities such as Vienna, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Madrid, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
In the course of his career Ole Kristian Ruud has recorded a substantial amount of Norwegian music. During his period with Trondheim Symphony Orchestra he directed several CD recordings for the Simax Classics label. More recently he has recorded form the Swedish label BIS, receiving fantastic reviews for his work with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Bergen Philharmonic.
Ruud was appointed professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in 1999 with the conducting studies programme as his main area of responsibility. He is currently artistic director of the Norwegian Youth Orchestra; he has been artistic director of the annual Stiklestad historical play since 1994 and he is musical director of the Peer Gynt festival in Gålå.
Ole Kristian Ruud is the recipient of several awards: The Edvard Grieg prize in 1992 and 2007, the Norwegian Music Critics’ prize in 1993, the Lindeman prize in 1994, the Johann Halvorsen prize in 1996, and the Stiklestad prize in 2004. In 2004, 2005 and 2007 Ruud and the Bergen Philharmonic were awarded the prize for “Best classical record of the year” by the Grieg Society in London.
Januar 2011