Erlend Skomsvoll

Erlend Skomsvoll (1969) is a Norwegian composer, musician, conductor, arranger, re-arranger and re-composing performer working in a wide range of styles and expressions, but with a basis in rhythmical and classical/contemporary-ish music. He (that is Erlend Skomsvoll, meaning me, but for the duration of this text referred to as ‘he’ or indeed ‘Skomsvoll’ – this being a biography) ihas found joy in – and a tremendous curiosity towards – many musical styles.

Growing up at Stabekk outside Oslo Erlend Skomsvoll enjoyed the rich possibilities for both sports and culture, and in his teens he was given the chance to get acquainted with a wide repertory of music within classical, jazz, rock and pop-music as a tubaist and pianist. Important here was Musikkflekken in Sandvika, one of the leading jazz clubs in Europe at the time, and also the vitality at the Hartvig Nissen high school. At this time it became clear to me (oops…) him that he had to choose between a career as a classical tuba player or a pianist – the latter in combination with composing, arranging and conducting. It ended up with the piano, primarily with a rhythmical direction.

After a couple of years as composing and performing freelancer he started studying composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music. This became a “poco a poco diminuendo” kind of study as he never felt at home in the climate of the academy. Determined never again to pursue studies Skomsvoll returned to freelancing. A concert project with John Pål Inderberg, Lindeman-prize awarded pedagog nestor at the jazz department in Trondheim, made him reconsider. The meeting with Inderberg was a watershed and Skomsvoll decided to apply to Trondheim. He was accepted and finally became part of an including and tightly knit environment. As a whole the city, the school and the students collectively comprised a broad expertise in different genres, giving Skomsvoll the foundation for growth he needed.

In 2000 he was given free rains by Midtnorsk Jazzsenter and Molde International Jazz Festival to curate concerts with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. The first concert featured Chick Corea as soloist, with Erlend Skomsvoll as artistic leader, conductor, arranger, re-arranger and composer. This concert, referred to as ‘The Miracle Concert’ by a leading Norwegian jazz critic, became the breakthrough for Skomsvoll. It lay the foundation for tours all over the world in the years to come with national and international soloists, writing many works within both classical, contemporary and jazz, and also working as arranger and conductor with a line of Norwegian artists within rock and popular music.

June 2014