| Christian Ihle HadlandPianoChristian Ihle Hadland is widely recognised as one of Norway’s most exciting young piano talents, and following his recital debut at the Norwegian Opera in 2008 was hailed in the Norwegian press as an artist who “proves himself as a unique musician whose artistry should be heard on the world’s concert stages.” Christian made his Norwegian debut with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Eivind Aadland at the age of fifteen, and has since gone on to perform with all of Norway’s leading orchestras, including several appearances with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also received invitations to perform with the Bayerische Rundfunk Orchestra and the Czech Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in addition to having appeared with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, the Armenian Philharmonic and the Lithuanian Symphony Orchestras. Christian is already highly sought-after both for recitals and as a chamber musician, and has appeared several times at prestigious venues and festivals such as Wigmore Hall, the Risor Festival, the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival and Kissinger Sommer. Since 2004 he has appeared annually at the Bergen International Festival as both a solo recitalist and in chamber groups and he has collaborated with such acclaimed artists as Janine Jansen, Henning Kraggerud, Lars Anders Tomter, Truls Mork, Clemens Hagen, Christian Poltйra and Ivry Gitlis. In 2006 he was invited to accompany Renйe Fleming at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, which was televised to a global audience of millions. In 2010 Christian was appointed joint Artistic Director of the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival alongside Martin Frost and he will be opening the 2011–12 season at the Oslo Philharmonic performing Chopin, conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste. Christian has recently performed with the NRK Orchestra under Thomas Sondergard, the Norrkoping Symphony Orchestra under Alan Buribayev and the Norwegian Opera Orchestra under Bernhard Klee, while future engagements include invitations to perform with the Stockholm Philharmonic and the Danish Radio Orchestra. Christian released his debut solo album in April 2010 for Simax Classics. This recording of works by Chopin and Schumann in their two-hundredth anniversary year has attracted great interest and rave reviews across the board. This recording follows on from the highly successful recording partnership between Christian and Henning Kraggerud for which they recorded works by Norwegian composer Christian Sinding, also for Simax Classics. In addition, Christian collaborated with the singer Isa Katharina Gericke in 2009 to produce a recording of Eva Nansen’s work, also for Simax Classics called Til Eva. Christian’s first recording featured chamber works by Bйla Bartok with violinist Annar Folleso and clarinettist Bjorn Nyman in 2005 for the 2L label. In 2000 Christian won the International Balys Dvarionas Competition in Vilnius (Lithuania), where he also received two other awards for his interpretations of the baroque and classical repertoires. In 2003 he went on to win the Rudolf Firkuљnэ Competition in Prague, again won an additional award and was invited to record a CD with the Czech Radio Philharmonic. At home he has won numerous prizes and awards including the Kjell Bжkkelunds Prize in 2006, the Norwegian Soloist Prize, the Lindeman Prize in 2007 and the Shell Prize in both 2004 and 2007. Christian Ihle Hadland was born in Stavanger in 1983 and received his first piano lessons at the age of eight. At the age of eleven he enrolled at the Rogaland Music Conservatory, and in 1999 he began lessons with Professor Jirн Hlinka, the teacher of Leif Ove Andsnes, among others, both privately and at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo. In 2009 he became the latest recipient of the prestigious Statoil award for young classical artists. | |