Eldbjørg Hemsing is one of the leading young violinists of today. Acclaimed for her “radiant and sophisticated performances” (BBC Music Magazine), she is committed to bringing her art form to new and emerging audiences across the world.
One of the most charismatic and leading young violinists on the international scene today, Eldbjørg Hemsing is acclaimed for her “radiant and sophisticated performances” (BBC Music Magazine) and is a musician committed to bringing her art form to new and emerging audiences across the globe. Her international career took off quickly, leading to four award-winning albums and world premieres of numerous compositions in many of the greatest halls of the world.
The 2023/24 season sees her appear with Iceland Symphony Orchestra under Yan Pascal Tortelier and return to Trondheim Symfoniorkester, alongside engagements with Den Norske Opera and Xi’an Symphony Orchestra. In addition to classical repertoire, Eldbjørg Hemsing is strongly dedicated to contemporary Nordic music, and will perform Anders Hillborg’s Violin Concerto No.2 with Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Esa-Pekka Salonen, a project that follows last season’s recording of Rolf Wallin’s Whirld Violin Concerto with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Andris Poga. Duo recitals and chamber music programmes in trio with Daniel Müller-Schott and Martin Stadtfeld take her to Germany for the Dresden Music Festival and the Heidelberger Frühling Festival, to Bærum in Norway and to the US.
Recent highlights include performances of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No.3 with Orchestre National d’Île de France, Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with Oslo Philharmonic and Bruch’s Violin Concerto with Philharmonia Orchestra under Santtu-Mathias Rouvali. Eldbjørg Hemsing regularly collaborates with orchestras such as Bergen Philharmonic, Belgian National Orchestra, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Shanghai and Hong Kong philharmonic orchestras, and is a welcome guest at prestigious venues such as Lincoln Center New York, the Kennedy Center Washington, Wigmore Hall, Verbier Festival and the National Center for the Performing Arts in Beijing.
She has also performed at numerous major global events and venues such as the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony in Oslo, United Nations, Shanghai Expo, and the UN Security Council. She has developed a close collaboration with the composer Tan Dun with whom she has premiered, toured, and recorded several award-winning works. She is a passionate speaker on the power of classical music beyond its traditional borders.
Eldbjørg Hemsing’s first album on Sony Classical with Arctic Philharmonic and Christian Kluxen, Arctic, was released in February 2023 and is devoted to the rich natural soundscapes of the Arctic. After an astonishing five nominations, the album gained her an Opus Klassik Award in the category Classic without Limits. Her current discography of critically acclaimed recordings includes an album of Grieg’s violin sonatas on BIS, which won the Spellemann Prize in Norway as Recording of the Year 2020. Her second album, Fire Ritual, centers around Tan Dun’s Violin Concerto, composed for and premiered by Eldbjørg Hemsing, and her debut album in 2018 featured Hjalmar Borgström’s Violin Concerto and Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No.1, recorded with the Wiener Symphoniker and Olari Elts.
A musical entrepreneur, Hemsing is actively involved in a multitude of projects, all rooted in her passionate interest to bring classical music to a more mainstream audience. As Senior Artistic Advisor of the prestigious global research firm Advisory Board for the Arts she spearheads ventures to bring transformative thinking to arts organisations and artists. She co-founded the Hemsing Festival and is the Artistic Director of the SPIRE, an innovative annual competition to promote and nurture young artists in their artistic and personal self-development in the classical music world.
Born in Valdres, Norway, Eldbjørg Hemsing studied at the prestigious Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo and with Professor Boris Kuschnir in Vienna. She plays a 1707 Antonio Stradivari ‘Rivaz, Baron Gutmann’ violin, on loan from the Dextra Musica Foundation.