Espen Wensaas (born November 14, 1986) is a Norwegian musician and multi-instrumentalist (most notably

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, cittern and guitar) residing in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, Norway. He is mostly known for performing Norwegian and Scandinavian

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

on guitar and modern

cittern The cittern or cithren ( Fr. ''cistre'', It. ''cetra'', Ger. ''Cister,'' Sp. ''cistro, cedra, cítola'') is a stringed instrument dating from the Renaissance. Modern scholars debate its exact history, but it is generally accepted that it is d ...

Education

Wensaas started his musical education at

Toneheim Folk High School Toneheim Folk High School ( no, Toneheim folkehøgskole) is a folk high school located in Hamar, Norway, which focuses on music. During the 1994 Winter Olympics, it was part of the Hamar Olympic Subsite Village. Alumni * 1973-74: Hans Fredrik ...

in 2004, where he was studying classical guitar and other music related subjects. Later on he continued his classical training in Ringerike High School in

Hønefoss __NOTOC__ Hønefoss is a town and the administrative center of the municipality of Ringerike in Buskerud county, Norway. Hønefoss is an industrial center of inner Østlandet, containing several factories and other industry. As of 1 January 2008, ...

. After high school Wensaas moved to

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

in 2009 to study jazz guitar at the University of Stavanger. He moved to Oslo in 2010 and was admitted to a bachelor's degree in musical performance at the

Norwegian Academy of Music The Norwegian Academy of Music (Norwegian: ''Norges musikkhøgskole'', NMH) is a university-level music conservatory located in Oslo, Norway, in the neighbourhood of Majorstuen, Frogner. It is the largest music academy in Norway and offers the co ...

in Oslo. He graduated from the academy in 2015, also receiving the highest grade possible on his final exam concert. In 2018 he became the first student admitted to the masters program in the folk department at the same academy with guitar and cittern as the main instruments. He finished his master's degree in 2020.

Professional career

Wensaas has worked as a

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

musician since 2008. He has gone on tours and played many concerts and performances with several different groups and projects. Amongst his collaborations are Åse Kleveland, Stian Carstensen, Steinar Ofsdal, Unni Løvlid, Aslak Brimi, Bjørn Kåre Odde, Jelena Tomasevic, Silje Nergaard, Elin Kåven, Carl Morten Iversen, FRIKAR, KORK,Espen Wensaas with KORK
/ref> Tore Bruvoll, Emil Solli Tangen and Ståle Ytterli.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wensaas, Espen 1986 births Living people Norwegian musicians Norwegian multi-instrumentalists Norwegian Academy of Music alumni Mandolinists Norwegian mandolinists