EINAR STEEN-NØKLEBERG (NOR)
Einar Steen-Nøkleberg is a leading Norwegian pianist, having made continuous international appearances and has released more than 50 recordings. He studied with Nicolai Dirdal and Hans Leygraf. Among other prizes and distinctions, some of the most important are the Norwegian Critics' Prize for Best Performance in 1975 (for the interpretation in Grieg's Piano Concerto at the Bergen Festival), the Lindeman Prize ("Performer of the Year") 1984, the Grieg Prize in 1985 (Bergen) and 1992 (Oslo). He is a Knight of the St. Olav Order, appointed by the King of Norway for his activities for Norwegian music in general.
From 1975 to 1981 Einar Steen-Nøkleberg was Professor of Piano at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik in Hannover, Germany, an appointment which made him Germany's youngest professor. His international career, that has already lasted over five decades, include repeated solo recitals in London, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Moscow, Mexico City, New York, Hamburg and Copenhagen.
Concerto appearances include the London Symphony Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Royal Chapel, China Philharmonic in Beijing, and the NHK in Tokyo. His recording of the Grieg concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra was chosen by the BBC Saturday Review as the best version of this much-recorded concerto.
In the 90’s, his monumental recording of all Grieg's piano music, a 14 CD set, for Naxos Records is recieving international acclaim. In 2001 he published Halfdan Kjerulf piano works (3 CD's) on Simax, and Harald Sæverud piano works (5 CD's) on Naxos.