Eldbjørg Hemsing

Classical violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing was born in Nord-Aurdal, Oppland, Norway on February 16, 1990. She is best known for collaborating with Oscar-winning Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun and premiering several of his works. As the younger sister of violinist Ragnhild Hemsing, she began playing the violin at the age of 5. Within a year, she was playing violin for the Norwegian Royal Family. She began attending the Barratt Due Institute of Music (in Oslo) at the age of seven and studied under Stephan Barratt-Due and Alf Richard Kraggerud. In 2001, she was an orchestral soloist for the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, and the Ashland Symphony Orchestra. At the age of 12, Eldbjørg Hemsing performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony. She began collaborating with Tan Dun, who asked her to perform his Hero Concerto, which began their long-term working relationship. She has worked with many different orchestras and appeared at many of the top festivals including the International Chamber Music Festival, Wigmore Hall, the Verbier Festival, the Bellerive Festival, and the Nordic Cool Festival. In 2018, she released the album Borgström & Shostakovich: Violin Concertos, which was followed by Tan Dun: Fire Ritual (2019), Grieg: Violin Sonatas - Hemsing: Homecoming (2020), and Arctic (2023). Over the course of her career, Eldbjørg Hemsing has won several awards including first prize at the Czech Kocian International Violin Competition (2005), the Audience Award on the Eurovision Young Musicians competition (2008), and the Spellemannprisen in 2020 for the album Grieg: The Violin Sonatas, a collaboration with pianist Simon Trpčeski.