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"GRIEG BY CANDLELIGHT"
Featuring Norwegian pianist KNUT ERIK JENSEN
Presented by SONS OF NORWAY, Grieg Lodge

Exclusive Oregon engagement at Portland's historic Norse Hall. Internationally renowned Norwegian concert pianist, Knut Erik Jensen marks the worldwide
Edvard Grieg Centennial in music and words on his 2007 west coast tour.
Experience the music that both defines and expresses the Norwegian spirit.

Reserve your place in the "HALL OF THE MOUNTAIN KING". Gala evening includes concert and Norwegian dessert reception.

September 11, 2007. Oslo Lounge opens at 6pm, Concert at 7pm.Advance Tickets: $20. (Seniors, students, Sons of Norway members $16).
Day of show (if avail.) $24/$20. Reservations: call 503-771-2689 or 503-231-5199

The details:
One hundred years ago in September 1907, Edvard Grieg, Norway's greatest composer, passed into memory leaving a classical musical legacy that both defined and expressed the Norwegian spirit. Portland-based Sons of Norway Grieg Lodge (founded and named for the composer in 1910) will take part in this year's worldwide commemoration www.norway.org/info/grieg2007.htm of Grieg's life and work on Tuesday, September 11 when we present Norwegian pianist Knut Erik Jensen in an exclusive Oregon engagement on his US/Canada west coast tour.

The gala evening takes place in the Grand Ballroom of Portland's historic Norse Hall and will feature a broad selection of Grieg's compositions for solo piano along with commentary on his life and work. A sumptuous Norwegian dessert reception is also included in the ticket price of this special cultural and musical event. There will be an opportunity to meet the pianist at the reception following the performance, and have CDs and DVDs autographed.

This is Knut Erik Jensen's third US tour this year but his first on the northwest coast. In describing the program, Jensen says his goal was to select piano music from Grieg's entire life in order to show his development as an artist. "Many of the pieces are Grieg's well-known beloved works, but I also chose some less well-known pieces that were important to him personally because of what was happening in his life and in Norway at the time."
And a turbulent time it was, Jensen points out. Norway was on its way to gaining independence from Sweden (1905) and taking its place among sovereign nations. "Grieg managed to give Norway a classical musical identity that hadn't been there before, in the same way that countries like Germany had," Jensen says.

Taking his inspiration from the rich heritage of Norwegian folk music and mythology, and the splendor of Norway's landscape, Grieg produced a vast body of work that was profoundly linked to the Norwegian experience. "We take our independence and identity for granted now, but we didn't then, Jensen observes, "and this was very important in Grieg's music. But one thing hasn't changed," he adds; "We still take our inspiration from nature – the powerful mountains and fjords; that's the Norwegian core."

Knut Erik Jensen was born in 1981 in Hell, outside Trondheim. In 2000 he was accepted at the Music Conservatory in Trondheim where he studied and earned a Bachelors' degree in performing arts for classical piano. Jensen won the TrønderAvisa Championship in 2005. In addition to his current work as a freelance concert pianist and popular accompanist in the professional opera and vocal society in Trøndelag, he is a master student at the Music Conservatory.

His 2007 west coast tour will take him from Los Angeles north to Oregon, Washington and into Canada where he will perform in many cities in British Columbia and Alberta, continuing back into the United States for performances at the renowned Norsk Høstfest in Minot, ND in October. He will be a guest soloist with the Minot Symphony Orchestra on October 6, and then end his eight-week tour with a grand finale concert in Houston, TX on October 23.

To learn more about Sons of Norway Grieg Lodge activities or Norse Hall rentals, click on the appropriate button above or call the main office at 503-236-3401.
Address: 111 N.E. 11th, Portland, OR 97232