Bjørn Kruse

Bjørn Kruse was born 1946 in London, England, but grew up in England, USA and Norway, with studies at UCLA, California, and The Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, receiving his BA (clarinet major) in 1975 and his Diploma in Composition two years later. Has taught at the academy since 1976, becoming professor of composition in 1998. He has written two books on jazz theory and one on composition and drama, "The Reflective Artist" (Norwegian version: Scandinavian University Press 1995,…

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Bjørn Kruse was born 1946 in London, England, but grew up in England, USA and Norway, with studies at UCLA, California, and The Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, receiving his BA (clarinet major) in 1975 and his Diploma in Composition two years later. Has taught at the academy since 1976, becoming professor of composition in 1998. He has written two books on jazz theory and one on composition and drama, "The Reflective Artist" (Norwegian version: Scandinavian University Press 1995, ISBN 82-00-22405-8).

From teenage years, Bjørn Kruse was active for about 25 years as jazz musician (saxophone), composer/arranger, producer and studio musician within most areas of music, while teaching and composing preoccupied him more and more. His list of works now numbers more that 150, including compositions for choir, chamber ensembles, several concertos and orchestra works, and four operas, and his compositions are performed ever more often in Norway and abroad. His latest major work was the opera “Den Grøne Riddaren” (libretto by Paal-Helge Haugen), which was premiered in Kristiansand, Agder Teater, on March 10, 2004. Among prizes won may be mentioned the Fernseh Opern Preis der Stadt Salzburg 1983, for the TV opera “A Game of Chess”, and several of his works have won the Work of the Year in Norway. Bjørn Kruse was featured composer at Festspillene i Nord-Norge 1994, Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden 2003, Risør Chamber Music Festival 2005, and MusikA Toulouse, France 2010.