Edvin Østergaard - Biography
Edvin Østergaard (1959 in St. Louis, Missouri) studied composition at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo (1986-88) and with Jan W. Morthenson in Stockholm (1987-90). He has a PhD from 1998 and at present he is working both as a composer and (since 1999) as an Associate Professor in science education at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. In 2008/2009 he held a position as visiting scholar at Harvard University (Graduate School of Education), Boston.
Østergaard’s compositions include instrumental music, music for choir as well as music for the theatre. His music has been performed in many European countries, and also in Canada and in the USA. In 2007 he won the jury's prize for "The Two Moons" in the choir competition by the Netherlands Radio Choir. Central works are: “Spiel-Räume” for septet (1988), ”Reminiscence” for sinfonietta (1991/96), ”Ritus II” for 16 Soloists (2000), ”Die 7. Himmelsrichtung” for trio (2001), “The Uncarved Block” for mixed choir a cappella and song quartet (2003), ”The Two Moons” for large choir (2006/07) and ”In Ab” Overtone music for cello (2006/07). More about the music is found at: www.myspace.com/edvinostergaard
As a researcher Østergaard for the last 15 years has worked with the relation between art and science. Larger project in this field are: "The Einstein Resoundings" (2005), a reflection on Einstein's physics from 1905, and “Darwin, Wagner and the Missing link of Art and Science”, a comparative study of the expressions of the evolutionary idea in biology and music.
Publications include:
- Østergaard, E. (2010). Moon Music. A composition of Art and Science in Dialogue. Forthcoming in Leonardo, 43 (3).
- Østergaard, E. (2009). Darwin meets Wagner: The Evolutionary Idea and its Expression in Biology and Music. Paper presented at IHPT conference, Notre Dame University, South Bend, June 2009.
- Østergaard, E. (2006). Composing Einstein: Exploring the Kinship of Art and Science. Interdisciplinary Science Reviews, 31 (3), 261-274.
- Østergaard, E. (2004). Hemmelige rom. Komponeringens slektskap med mysteriet. In Guldbrandsen, E. & Ø. Varkøy (ed.). Musikk og mysterium. Fjorten essay om grensesprengende musikalsk erfaring, 91-110. Cappelen Forlag, Oslo.
Headlines:
Himmelkvad
Celebrated vocal ensemble Nordic Voices is currently out on its promo tour for their new outing ‘Himmelkvad’, a critically acclaimed album presenting Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen’s unique vocal universe. MIC Norway takes a closer look at the cutting-edge vocal ensemble and ground-breaking composer.
I was the devil in my younger years
Late Feb sees Enslaved heading out on a month-long European tour. MIC Norway hooked up with Enslaved’s Ivar Peersen to talk about musical cross pollination, inspirational sources, humour and his fascination for singer-songwriter Stein Torleif Bjella.
