— 150 years on each side of Europe.

In 2026, it will be 150 years since Tchaikovsky and Grieg composed two of their most significant piano works. In The Seasons, Tchaikovsky set the entire year to music in twelve moods — from the crackling in front of the fireplace in January, to the bright nights of summer, the melancholy of autumn and the expectant dance of December. Back home in Bergen, Grieg simultaneously wrote his Ballade in G minor , in which he comes to terms with his own feelings and creates his greatest instrumental work.

Twelve years later, the composers met in Leipzig and immediately hit it off: "Soulmates don't grow on trees!" he wrote. Edvard Grieg in a letter to Tchaikovsky in 1888.

The concert opens with Sæverud's Bird Flute Variations , a work that has interesting similarities to Grieg's ballad. This program was Thormod Rønning Kvam's solo debut at this year's Bergen International Festival , and he has since taken it with him around Norway, Denmark and England. Now he is giving his first solo concert in University Aula , to benefit the further development of the Debut Series. Wolfgang Plagge presents the music along the way. Welcome!

Thormod Rønning Kvam piano
Wolfgang Plagge conference speaker

Duration approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes including interval.

• Concert program

  Harald Sæverud (1897—1992)
  Bird Flute Variations, Op. 36

  Peter Tchaikovsky (1840—1893)
  The Seasons, Op. 37

  Edvard Grieg (1843—1907)
  Ballade in G minor, Op. 24

• About the performer

  Thormod Rønning Kvam belongs to a new generation of Nordic performers who combine international concert activity with a burning commitment to renewing the dissemination of classical music. He is currently a recipient of the State's work grant for young artists, and in 2023 was appointed Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (ARAM) for 'his significant contribution to the music profession'. The following year he received the Nils Larsen International Debut Prize and the Fegersten Scholarship.

  In June he made his solo debut with two sold-out concerts at the Bergen International Festival, featuring music by Sæverud, Tchaikovsky and Grieg. Other highlights in recent years include performances at London's Wigmore Hall, Harpa in Reykjavik, the Norwegian Opera and Stockholm Concert Hall, as well as solo tours with, among others, the Royal Norwegian Marines Band and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble under the direction of Christian Eggen.

  He received his bachelor's degree from the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, where he studied in Prof. Jiří Hlinka's last class. He then went to London for his master's and diploma studies with Prof. Christopher Elton and Diana Ketler at the Royal Academy of Music, where he graduated in 2019 with top marks.
  and DipRAM distinction.

  Kvam is the founder and artistic director of Aulaseriene , a chamber music initiative with approximately 40 annual concerts distributed across the University auditoriums in Oslo and Bergen, Håkon's Hall in Bergen and the cultural destination Ramme in Hvitsten .

We wish you an enjoyable, unique concert experience with us. Welcome!

Photo: Per Sollerman (Kvam) / Ole Martin Wold (Plagge)