The Grieg Academy (Norwegian: Griegakademiet) is a name currently shared by music programs at two higher education institutions in Bergen, Norway.[1] One prominent institution, which until recently has referred to itself in English as the "Grieg Institute" (or "Griegakademiet - Institutt for musikk" in Norwegian) is the music conservatory in Bergen, Norway and a department of the University of Bergen, also known as UiB. However, the institution that has for the longest been called "Griegakademiet" in Norwegian - and "Grieg Academy" in English - is the music education department now incorporated into Bergen University College, also known as HiB.[2] "Griegakademiet" has appeared for many years in official documents and on signs for main entrances and hallways to the music department of Bergen University College (HiB), which is the largest music education program in Norway (with alumni of over 1000 music teachers), offering Bachelor and Master degrees and teacher certification, and HiB is the "Grieg Academy" that in 2002 hosted one of the world's largest music education conferences.[3] The previously mentioned UiB music department, in contrast to the HiB music department, used to be called the "Bergen Conservatory," and now has a slightly larger number of full-time music faculty, emphasizes elite performance studies rather than music education, and is more centrally-located in downtown Bergen.
Although the scenario of a shared name might appear to suggest competing interests (and indeed there was resistance to a full merger in the 1990s), several instructors now teach music concurrently at both institutions, and a healthy partnership is evident between musicians and programs at these two schools which have rather different emphases.[4] According to the history explained in Norwegian on the Grieg Academy-UiB’s official website, “towards the end of the 1980s, the conservatory faced major restructuring, and a government report recommended closer cooperation with the University of Bergen. In the autumn of 1995, Nina Grieg's 150th birthday and 90 years after Torgrim Castberg first opened the Music Academy, the Conservatoire was founded as an ‘institute’ at the University of Bergen, and ‘Grieg Academy’ was established as a ceiling (or umbrella ...) of all music education programs under both the University of Bergen and Bergen University College.” [5] The Grieg Academy is, therefore, now spread across two institutions, University of Bergen and Bergen University College, with some forms of collaboration. The name Grieg may be traced to Norway's most famous composer Edward Grieg, a native son of Bergen, and the tradition of naming music schools after famous composers is evident across Europe, including the Sibelius Academy, Liszt Academy, and Mozarteum, to name but a few prominent examples.
Grieg Academy-UiB. The Music department of the University of Bergen (or "UiB"), was founded in 1905 as the Bergen Musikkonservatorium (Bergen Music Conservatory) by T. Castberg.[6] It offers 4-year undergraduate programs in Performance, Composition and Pedagogy/Music Education, and also 2-year Masters programs in Performance, Composition and Ethnomusicology. The Academy maintains a population of approximately 160 students, A permanent staff of 25 and numerous part-time faculty. The Griegakademiet-Institutt for musikk has also partnered itself with two of the elite bands in the Hordaland area: the brass band Eikanger-Bjørsvik Musikklag and the wind band Dragefjellets Musikkorps (Bergen Symphonic Band). Many faculty members are also members and principal players of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra. Notable faculty include professor Per Hannevold (bassoon and orchestral studies), professor (II) Gro Schibsted Sandvik (flute), guitarist Stein-Erik Olsen[7], professor Brynjulf Stige[8] (music therapist), Tom Solomon[9] (ethnomusicologist), and professor Harald Bjørkøy (voice). Alumni from the Academy include Leif Ove Andsnes, Harald Sæverud, and Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen.
Grieg Academy-HiB. The original "Grieg Academy" - the music department in the Faculty of Education at Bergen University College (or HiB) - is the largest music education degree program in Norway, and offers undergraduate and graduate degrees primarily for those who plan to become music teachers, music teacher educators, or arts researchers and cultural policy-makers. Although its emphasis is on music education rather than performance studies, the faculty includes performers, composers, conductors, and musicologists, and supports an affiliated Center for Arts, Culture, and Communication[10] to foster research in the arts, for which PhD students are frequently in residence. New Professors Stig A. Eriksson (theatre arts) and David G. Hebert[11] (sociomusicologist) have recently been hired for this Center, headed by Professor Aslaug Nyrnes. Other notable music Professors and Lecturers at HiB include Eiliv Olsen, Thorolf Krüger, Tiri Bergesen Schei, Catharina Christophersen, Torunn Bakken Hauge, and Njål Vendenes. The campus is currently located in Landås, a suburb of Bergen, but its new 51,000 square metre building for the entire Faculty of Education (including performing arts facilities) is now under construction at a convenient location just south of downtown Bergen, with expected completion projected to 2013.[12] The HiB Faculty of Education currently has 2300 students and 150 staff members (around 20 of whom are full-time in music at Griegakademiet), and music is the largest graduate program offered by the Faculty.[13] New PhD programs are also under development, as indicated in HiB's strategic plan.[14] The Griegakademiet at Landås has produced several of Norway’s most renowned songwriters and rock musicians, including leaders of Kaizers Orchestra and Odd Nordstoga, and is often given some credit for the recent “Bergen Wave" of popular music.[15]