The BIT20 Ensemble is a

contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...

ensemble from

Bergen, Norway Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

, founded in 1989. It was formed in the merger of the quartet, Bit4, and Ensemble 20. The ensemble has headquarters at

Grieghallen Grieg Hall ( no, Grieghallen) is a 1,500 seat concert hall located on Edvard Griegs' square in Bergen, Norway. Grieghallen was named in honor of Bergen-born composer Edvard Grieg, who served as music director of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra ...

. During its history, BIT20 Ensemble has performed more than 400 works and the ensemble serves as an important Nordic platform for new music, commissioning over 100 original works that have premiered internationally. The core of the BIT20 Ensemble is its 17 Principal Players. The ensemble's recordings comprise a catalogue of 20th-century classics, on numerous labels. BIT20 Ensemble specializes in new

Norwegian music Much has been learned about early music in Norway from physical artifacts found during archaeological digs. These include instruments such as the lur. Viking and medieval sagas also describe musical activity, as do the accounts of priests and pil ...

and has commissioned and premiered hundreds of Norwegian works as well as contributed to 26 CD recordings, including composers such as

Arne Nordheim Arne Nordheim (20 June 1931 – 5 June 2010) was a Norwegian composer. Nordheim received numerous awards for his compositions, and from 1982 lived in the Norwegian government's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. He ...

Ketil Hvoslef Ketil is a Norwegian masculine given name, and may refer to: * Ketil Askildt (1900-1978), Norwegian discus thrower * Ketil Bjørnstad (born 1952), Norwegian pianist * Ketil Flatnose (9th century), Norwegian hersir * Ketil Haugsand (21st century) ...

, Kristine Tjøgersen,

Knut Vaage Knut (Norwegian and Swedish), Knud (Danish), or Knútur (Icelandic) is a Scandinavian, German, and Dutch first name, of which the anglicised form is Canute. In Germany both "Knut" and "Knud" are used. In Spanish and Portuguese Canuto is used whi ...

and

Øyvind Torvund Øyvind Torvund (born 1976 in Porsgrunn) is a Norwegian composer. He studied composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music (Oslo) with Bjørn Kruse and Ivar Frounbergand, as well as at Berlin University of the Arts, Universität der Künste (Ber ...

. In 2019 the ensemble released Torvund's composition The Exotica Album on the label Hubro Music. Promoting children's interest in music and art is an important objective for the BIT20 Ensemble, which since 2007 has involved several thousand children in educational projects. Modern

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

is also a fundamental sphere of the BIT20 Ensemble's activities. Since the start of its collaborations with Opera Vest and later Den Nye Opera, the BIT20 Ensemble has participated in more than 20 operas.

Awards

In 2005 the BIT20 Ensemble was nominated for the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomou ...

’s Music Prize and Danish Music Awards-Classical. In 2003 the ensemble was given an honorary prize by the Norwegian Performing Rights Organisation TONO for its outstanding role in presenting Norwegian Music abroad. In 1993 the ensemble was hailed as Performer of the Year by the Norwegian Society of Composers for its promotion of Norwegian contemporary music. The ensemble have also been nominated to

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

Musicians

Flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

: Ingela Øien *

Clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

Håkon Nilsen Håkon Nilsen (16 April 1913 – 30 January 1976), Stavanger, Norway, popularly known as "Torpedo Nilsen", was a Norwegian war veteran and highly decorated allied naval torpedo commander of World War II. Draug He dramatically escaped Norway in ...

Bassoon The bassoon is a woodwind instrument in the double reed family, which plays in the tenor and bass ranges. It is composed of six pieces, and is usually made of wood. It is known for its distinctive tone color, wide range, versatility, and virtuo ...

James Lassen James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

horn Horn most often refers to: *Horn (acoustic), a conical or bell shaped aperture used to guide sound ** Horn (instrument), collective name for tube-shaped wind musical instruments *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various ...

: Danilo Kadovic *

Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...

: Jon Behncke *

Trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

Chris Dudley Christen Guilford Dudley (born February 22, 1965) is an American former professional basketball player and politician. He played 886 games across 16 seasons in the NBA for the Cleveland Cavaliers, New Jersey Nets, Portland Trail Blazers, New ...

Harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

: Johannes Wik *

Piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

: Jarle Rotevatn *

Violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

: Jutta Morgenstern * Violin: Martin Shultz *

Viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

: Liene Klava *

Cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

: Agnese Rugevica *

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

: Thorolf Thuestad *

Double Bass The double bass (), also known simply as the bass () (or #Terminology, by other names), is the largest and lowest-pitched Bow (music), bowed (or plucked) string instrument in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding unorthodox addit ...

: Christian Henriksen *

Oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

: Hege Sellevåg *

Percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

: Peter Kates * Percussion /

Concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

: Trond Madsen

References

External links

Official web page
Contemporary classical music ensembles Musical groups established in 1989 {{norway-band-stub