Eldbjørg Hemsing


Eldbjørg Hemsing is a Norwegian violinist, who has been performing on some of the world's most prestigious stages since the age of 11, with her solo debut with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. She premiered several works by Tan Dun. She lives in Berlin. She is the younger sister of Norwegian violinist Ragnhild Hemsing.

Biography

Eldbjørg Hemsing was born in Valdres in Norway in 1990 and started to play the violin at the age of five. She played for the Norwegian Royal Family at age six. At the age of seven she was accepted into the prestigious Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, where she received lessons from Alf Richard Kraggerud and Stephan Barratt-Due. Eldbjørg Hemsing has also studied with Boris Kuschnir. In 2012, she gave a globally televised performance at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo.
A collaboration developed with the Oscar-winning composer and conductor Tan Dun, when he asked her to perform his Hero Concerto with the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra as well as with the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra. The success of these performances led to an invitation to premiere Tan Dun's Triple Resurrection Concerto in Leipzig and Shanghai with the Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. Eldbjørg Hemsing has also premiered Tan Dun's violin concerto The Love with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra at the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai and most recently Tan Dun's violin concerto The Fire Rituals. A composition that was premiered with the Chinese National Orchestra at the Beijing's National Centre.
A regular guest soloist with some of the world's top ensembles, Eldbjørg played with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra Ireland, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared at the Bad Kissingen and AlpenKlassik festivals in Germany, International Chamber Music Festivals in Oslo, Stavanger and Bergen, Wigmore Hall, Verbier Festival, Bellerive Festival, as well as the Nordic Cool Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.
Eldbjørg's recording of romantic violin concerto by Hjalmar Borgstrøm with Wiener Symphoniker, under the baton of Olari Elts was released worldwide by BIS in 2018. This recording became the subject of a documentary slated for global release in 2018. Major appearances include performances with Norwegian Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra - conductor Christian Lindberg, Szczecin Philharmonic - conductor Rune Bergmann, Bergen International Festival in Norway, Paavo Järvi's Pärnu Festival in Estonia.
The multi-album collaboration with BIS Records also features Dvorak violin concerto and Suk Fantasy and Love Song, recorded with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra and Alan Buribayev, as well as works written in the late XX and XXI centuries.
Together with her sister Ragnild Hemsing, she organizes .
Eldbjørg Hemsing plays a GB Guadagnini violin from 1754 on loan from the Dextra Musica Foundation. She also plays the Hardanger Fiddle.

Discography

She won First Prize in the Sparre Olsen Competition in 1999, First Prize in the Norwegian Youth String Competition and the Sparre Olsen Competition in 2000 and second prize in the 2001 Kocian International Violin Competition.
Eldbjørg has received the Audience Prize at the Verbier Festival, First Prize and Audience Prize in the Virtuosi Competition in Norway, and the third prize and Audience Prize at the Eurovision Young Musicians 2008 with top votes from Germany, Austria and Switzerland. When Eldbjørg and her sister Ragnhild created a documentary about the life of the famous violinist Ole Bull for Norwegian National Broadcasting company NRK, it was distinguished with the Golden Rose award at the 2012 Rose d'Or Festival in Luzern and received prizes at the Circom Festival.