Grappa musikkforlag

Jon Øivind Ness (1968) grew up in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway. During his childhood, he played the "tussefløyte" (a Norwegian traditional flute), the violin and the clarinet, and he studied classical guitar at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 1987 with Jan Danielsen. From 1989 he transferred to compositional studies at the same academy, amongst his professors were Olav Anton Thommessen, Lasse Thoresen, Bjørn Kruse and Ragnar Söderlind.

His breakthrough came with the work Schatten for 23 musicians, for which he was awarded the Norwegian Society of Composers' "Composition of the Year" award in 1994. Since he has been honoured with the Edvard Prize twice, for the work Cascading Ordure in 1997 and Dangerous Kitten in 2000.

His works have been commissioned by the Arditti String Quartet, the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Cikada, Ensemble Ernst, accordionist Frode Haltli, Orkester Norden, the Oslo Philharmonic, the Oslo Sinfonietta, trombonist Sverre Riise, Saxofon Concentus, the Stavanger Contemporary Ensemble, and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, among other ensembles and orchestras.

His music has been performed throughout Norway, as well as in Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Malaysia, Poland, Sweden, Switzerland, the USA, and the UK.

Ness has often referred to other musical works with a humoristic wink, but in the past years he has grown a wish to express himself through music that communicate exclusively as music, without cryptic references to phenomena outside.
www.jonoivindness.com

May 2011

http://www.jonoivindness.com/