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. From 1989 he transferred to compositional studies. 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, Oslo Sinfonietta, trombonist Sverre Riise, Saxofon Concentus, Stavanger Contemporary Ensemble, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, among other ensembles and orchestras. In 2012/-13 he was composer in residence with Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, who also released the album ‘Low Jive’ in 2009 which was rewarded with a Norwegian Grammy Award (Spellemannprisen). In later years Ness has also done orchestral arrangements for artists including Jenny Hval, Javid Afsari Rad, Mattis Myrland, Unni Løvlid and Diamanda Galás.
June 2013
