From left; Mia Cooper, Robertas Bliskevicius, Roger Arve Vigulf, Sonata Zuboviene. Behind; Mindaugas Backus, Rokas Zubovas, Andrius Radziukynas Photo by Mariann Selberg Siem.
https://impetus.lt/en/performers/disobedient-ensembleThe picture is from the newspaper Øyene 2005. In June 2004 I had my first tour to the USA, Los Angeles. I was engaged by California State University to be a soloist with the Calstate University Jazz Orchestra in works by Morton Gould - Derivations. The jazz ensemble was led by saxophonist Jeff Benedict. In addition, I had an all-evening solo concert at the same university with, among others, work by Snorri Sigurdbjørnson. In October of the same year (2004), I traveled together with Gisle Krogseth, and the following year (2005 - where this picture is taken from) I traveled together with Krogseth and Per Christian Arnesen, mainly for a sound recordings of work written by Arnesen. In addition, we had a concert in a relatively large church in L.A. the area.
The picture of me in the lake at Hvasser late in August 1996. The picture was taken by Herdis Marie Siegert. I used an old clarinet. The sea was around 17 degrees, so it was a cold pleasure:) This then became a brochure for the subsequent tour in March 1997 with Vigulf/Cicada String Quartet.
This clip is an interview with me in Tønsberg Blad in early October 1986. In that connection, I had been selected as a soloist with the Eastern Conservatory of Music Chamber Orchestra, with a concert in the old Munch Museum in Oslo. I performed Bjørn Kruse - LAKRIS. The concert went brilliantly, and in retrospect this was perhaps a small "breakthrough". Afterwards, I appeared on TV in Den Nye Søndagsposten with Erik Bye (March 1987), I got a 1-month temporary position in the Northern Wind Quintet, stationed in Mosjøen.
In autumn 2000, I sent a VHS video cassette to the National Philharmonic in Vilnius. I began a fantastic journey in the landscape of chamber music. Soloist engagements with the Vilnius State String Quartet in the period March 2001 to April 2005. I think I have been a soloist with them in close to 30 concerts. We held concerts all over Lithuania, e.g. in Mirjampole, Klaipeda, Silaule, Vilnius, Kaunas. In addition, they accompanied me to Norway on a couple of occasions. At my Debut concert in Gamle Logen in Oslo 13.5.02 and as the picture shows, Den Nasjonale Scene in Bergen, April 2004. In the period 2000 to 2013 I had many engagements, etc. Bergens Kammermusikk Forening, much due to that friend of mine, Finn Totland, whom was the Director of Bergens Kammermusikk Forening for many years.
I did not expect that I would get to Ireland. My friend, the singer Elisabeth Goell, made this possible in October 2008. Omagh was the base for the Tour and I also played with the English cellist Tom Collingwood and the American pianist Craig Combs. In addition, the Irish violinist Rosie Nicholson was there. I have never seen such big pubs in my life...:)
Seeing these pictures here from January 2000 gives me goosebumps in a negative sense. Here I weighed 53 kg...and struggled a lot with food refusal. I had already started to "change myself" from late autumn 1996, and lost a good 21 kg in 1 1/2 years. Fortunately, I recovered from around 2003. These photos were taken at Fotografene i Drammen by Helene Boasson. 3 months later I went on a one-week tour to Bosnia Herzegovina, with concerts in Banja Luka and Sarajevo. It was an unforgettable experience..
In the autumn of 1994, pianist Bjarne Sakshaug and I began to discuss whether we should start a quartet. We got Rolf Lennart Stensøe on percussion and bass player Magnus Söderberg. We arranged our first concert in the University's Aula in Oslo on 10 April 1996 and NRK P2 was present and recorded the entire concert. Then we were engaged by NRK P2 radio for a recording of Nordensten. The next day we were engaged by NyMusikk Oslo (see picture), which at the time had a series they called the Sonus Series. Me, Bjarne Sakshaug and Thomas Nilsson(percussion) played on this one. We premiered Frank Tveor Nordensten - Stiletto for E flat clarinet, piano, percussion and electronics. In addition, we performed a work by Igor Panov, Roger Wendelwick and Bjarne did a fantastic version of a piano solo work by Oddvar Lönner. Unfortunately, Bjarne Sakshaug passed away earlier this year (2023) so much, much too young...
This picture is from 8 January 1996 from Voldsdalen church. None of the quartet members play in this ensemble today. I was born in Ålesund and grew up in Spjelkavik. Then moved to Eastern Norway in June 1980. There are not many times I have been a soloist with this quartet, but at least in 1996, 98, 2004, and in October 2010.
On 24 March 1996 I was a soloist in the Mozart clarinet concerto with the Drammen Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Geir Tore Larsen. This was in Bragernes church and the hall was almost full. I came in a home-made Mozart costume, my mother had made it, and I had borrowed some from a Theater in Skien. The concert went very well, the orchestra struggled somewhat with my fast Mozart tempo. But the critic in Drammens Tidene at the time, Martin Haug, was very pleased!
Dedicated Hans Petter Bonden(1960-2001) In Memoriam. This piece was commissioned from MISK in Sandefjord, Norway. The world premiere was october 24 - 2013 in Sandefjord Church.
https://youtu.be/Rm-UWZLGBHY?si=m8q1Sj6rn0c86w6H