About Tord Kalvenes

Tord Kalvenes (b.1989) grew up on Austevoll, an island chain just south of Bergen. He started playing guitar and singing as a child, and at 12 he started to write and perform his own music.

 

Kalvenes finished his Masters degree in Musicology at Oslo University in 2014, where his thesis focused on compositional techniques in American choral music, having B. Morten Christophersen as his mentor. Kalvenes also studied composition under guidance from Olav Anton Thommesen and conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music. During this period, Kalvenes composed the choral pieces O vis Aeternitatis and Missa Brevis (later Missa De Lumine) while being an active ensemble singer.

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Tord Kalvenes has shared his music with Schola Cantorum, Kammerkoret Gneis, Bergen Domkor, Tabula Rasa, Ole Bull Kammerkor and several other ensembles. Several of his choral pieces have been published through Cantando Musikkforlag, and more is on the way. In 2020 his work Missa de Lumine was nominated as "work of the year" (classical) at Musikkforleggerprisen 2020. For the festival 2020/2021 Kalvenes was a part of BorealisUngKomponist, a composer program for young composers at the Borealis festival in Bergen.

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In 2016 Kalvenes was nominated as "newcommer of the year" at Musikkforleggerprisen 2015. Here he won a scholarship given by Trond Kverno to aid him in further developing his career.

 

Kalvenes` musical style is influenced by seeking new expressions, either conventional notation, text scores or improvisational methodology. The musical language is influenced by both contemporary and more traditional expressions, which has resulted in an individual expressive style within the musical themes.