Øivind Farmen

Øivind Farmen was born in Sandefjord, Norway, in 1972. At the age of eight he began taking lessons with Gustav Schmidt and continued with Arne Kulsvehagen at the municipal music school in Sandefjord. Farmen took music at the Sandefjord sixth-form college (1988-1991) before entering the college department of the Barratt Due Institute of Music where he studied from 1991 to 1995 with Anders Grøthe. Farmen has performed to critical acclaim in numerous countries from China in the east to the…

Sort by:

Øivind Farmen was born in Sandefjord, Norway, in 1972. At the age of eight he began taking lessons with Gustav Schmidt and continued with Arne Kulsvehagen at the municipal music school in Sandefjord. Farmen took music at the Sandefjord sixth-form college (1988-1991) before entering the college department of the Barratt Due Institute of Music where he studied from 1991 to 1995 with Anders Grøthe. Farmen has performed to critical acclaim in numerous countries from China in the east to the USA in the west. In Norway he has performed as a soloist with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, Barratt Due Chamber Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Bodø Sinfonietta, The Royal Norwegian Navy Band, and The Norwegian Air Force Band. At the beginning of his career Øivind Farmen regularly entered competitions, winning a first prize at the traditional accordion competition in Klingenthal, Germany in 1993, and at the Trofée Mondial de l’accordéon in Portugal in 1996. In addition he was awarded second prize in the concert soloist category at Castelfidardo, Italy, in 1994. He was awarded the Claudio Calista memorial prize, also at Castelfidardo, in 1995 for the best performance of a contemporary work. Øivind Farmen is an extremely versatile performer, at home with a wide variety of musical genres and styles. He has collaborated in the creation of new works with composers such as Håkon Berge, Morten Gaathaug, Terje Bjørklund, Johan Kvandal, Fredrik Högberg and Erlend Skomsvoll. He has performed with a number of Norway’s foremost musicians including Elise Båtnes (violin), Øystein Baadsvik (tuba) and Ole Edvard Antonsen (trumpet). The folk music-based trio Flukt of which he is a member was nominated for Spellemannpris award in 2009. In 2008 he was awarded a two-year government grant for artists for a contemporary music project. Since 1995 Øivind Farmen has taught accordion as a main instrument, chamber music, and music communication at the Depart of Music at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. Aug 2010