Christophersen-Tandberg-Skjelbred= Concertos Telemark Chamber Orchestra, Per Kristian Skalstad & Ai-Ling Chiu

• Bjørn Morten Christophersen (b. 1976): Concerto for Violin and Strings:
• 1 Christophersen: Concerto for Violin and Strings: I. Unfolding 12:13
• 2 Christophersen: Concerto for Violin and Strings: II. Air and Cadenza (attacca) 13:30
• 3 Christophersen: Concerto for Violin and Strings: III. Return 08:39
• Kari Beate Tandberg (b. 1958): Deviations:
• 4 Tandberg: Deviations 13:29
• Bjørn Bolstad Skjelbred (b. 1970): And Then it was Winter:
• 5 Skjelbred: And Then it was Winter 07:22
• Total Runtime 55:13

Info for Christophersen-Tandberg-Skjelbred= Concertos

A new release by the Telemark Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Per Kristian Skalstad, featuring works by Christophersen, Tandberg, and Skjelbred.

Bjørn Morten Christophersen: Concerto for Violin and Strings - This concerto was written for violinist Ai-Ling Chiu, inspired by the Taiwanese song "Longing for Your Return," a song of freedom from World War II. The work explores themes of identity, musical journey, and distance, with the Taiwanese melody woven into the composition. The violin concerto consists of three movements-Unfolding, Air, and Return-and concludes as a fusion of Taiwanese and Norwegian musical traditions.

Kari Beate Tandberg: Deviations - Tandberg's work for accordion and strings uses a modernist sound palette. The piece is based on the idea of "deviations" that create tension and variation, both musically and as a life philosophy. Through structured sections like Presentation, Development, and Transition, the deviations lead to the logical conclusion of the work, with an ambiguous tonality suggesting a new direction.

Bjorn Bolstad Skjelbred: And Then It Was Winter - This impressionistic piece is inspired by the arrival of winter in Paris in 2010. The music creates a melancholic atmosphere, with falling melodies and tonal shifts that reflect the quiet advance of winter. The piece shares musical elements with the first work on the album, contributing to a sense of a unified musical narrative.

Ai-Ling Chiu, violin
Telemark Chamber Orchestra
Per Kristian Skalstad, conductor

Per Kristian Skalstad
has worked with all the Norwegian orchestras, as well as orchestras in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Austria and the US. ​

During the last couple of seasons, Skalstad has worked with the Norwegian Opera & Ballet, the Royal Ballet in Copenhagen, the Finnish National Ballet, the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, the Trondheim Soloists, the Norwegian Wind Ensemble, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Philharmonic. ​

Since 2004, Skalstad has been a frequent guest conductor for the Norwegian National Ballet. He has conducted more than 30 productions; such as Giselle, Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen and Don Quijote, along with works by Balanchine, Kylian, Forsythe and Lightfoot/Leon, and a number of world premiere productions. ​

He has conducted for the Finnish National Ballet and made his debut with the Royal Ballet in Copenhagen in 2022. Skalstad has also conducted for the Nederlands Dance Theatre.

Skalstad is also very much at home in the opera repertoire, and has done stage productions of The marriage of Figaro, La clemenza di Tito, The barber of Sevilla, Dido and Aeneas, La Cenerentola, Rigoletto, Carmen, Britten's “Let’s make an opera”and others. He has also done contemporary opera, such as “The Kiberg Odyssé” by Trygve Brøske, “The Witches” by Marcus Paus and “Querini opera” by Henning Sommerro. ​

Per Kristian Skalstad has conducted the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (NCO) a number of times, with sololists like Leif Ove Andsnes, Isabelle Van Keulen, Ian Bostridge, Gidon Kremer, Paul Lewis, Lars Anders Tomter, Truls Mørk, Martin Frost, Tine Ting Helseth and Jean Guihen Quyeras. He premiered the piano concerto “La Mattina” by Bent Sørensen with Andsnes and the NCO in 2009, and has since then taken this work on tours to the Bergen Festival, Musikhalle Hamburg, the Proms in Albert Hall and the Ojay Music Festival in California, USA. In 2018, Skalstad recorded this piece with Andsnes and the NCO. ​

Skalstad is artistic director of the Telemark Chamber Orchestra, (TKO) where he normally leads as a violin player. The TKO has a strong focus on contemporary music, with regular collaborations with Norwegian composers. ​

Per Kristian Skalstad was for 12 years assistent concertmaster of the Norwegian Opera Orchestra, a long time member of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra and the Oslo String Quartet.

This album contains no booklet.