Since May 2019, the position of director of the three composers' houses in Bergen – the Edvard Grieg Museum Troldhaugen, the Ole Bull Museum Lysøen and Siljustøl, dedicated to Harald Sæverud – had been vacant. Now, with the young pianist Christian Grøvlen (*1990), a successor has been found for Sigurd Sverdrup Sandmo, who moved to the Royal Collections in Oslo last year.
"My heart beats for the composers' houses in Bergen, and at Troldhaugen I have had some of my most important artistic experiences, both as a performer and as a listener. To be given the opportunity to shape the composers' houses and preserve the legacy of Bull, Grieg and Sæverud is a great joy and honour for me," he is quoted as saying.
The museums are intended to be an important pillar in the art and music city of Bergen and an important voice in the Norwegian cultural landscape in general. For the composers' houses, this means both preserving tradition and developing exciting new facets. The music and biographies of the three composers should be emphasised, while the bigger picture should not be neglected. Working with children and young people is especially important to Grøvlen; his own love of music, for instance, was awakened by the works of Grieg. Beyond that, however, he wants to create great experiences for all visitors from Bergen, all of Norway and other countries too. The international networking of Troldhaugen in particular is very close to his heart.
One of Norway's most outstanding pianists
Christian Grøvlen was born in Bergen in 1990 and spent his childhood there. The music of Edvard Grieg in particular is the starting point of his artistic career. At the age of 16 he performed for the first time in the Troldsalen – the concert hall of the museum.
Grøvlen trained as a pianist at the Norwegian Academy of Music, the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen and the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. He is a winner of the Robert Levin Prize and the Léonie Sonning Talent Prize in Denmark. He also receives an artist's scholarship from the Norwegian state.
As a soloist, Grøvlen has already performed together with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra and the Norwegian Opera Orchestra. He has also performed at the Bergen International Festival. Alongside his work as a pianist, he has also appeared as a composer and as the director of a concert series at the Caféteatret in Oslo.