He also appears with many fine wind and brass ensembles and in recital.  He is keenly interested in contemporary music and many composers have written pieces specially for him. Antonsen's many prestigious international prizes include First Prize in the 1987 CIEM competition in Geneva (the first top prize to be awarded since Maurice André in 1955) and the 1989 UNESCO Competition in Bratislava.  Between 1991and 1994 he was the National Olympic Committee's chosen representative for their international promotion of Norwegian music.

He gave his first concert with the British pianist and organist Wayne Marshall in 1990 and the duo now give many concerts.  Recent seasons have included recitals at the Royal Festival Hall, City of London Newbury and Bermuda Festivals and visits to Germany, Norway, Japan, Bergen, Hong Kong and Seoul.  In December 1997 they gave their second recital at Suntory Hall, Tokyo and appeared at the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester in Spring 1998.    He also regularly also gives recitals with Håvard Gimse and Kare Nordstoge and last year gave concerts in Edmonton with Jeremy Spurgeon.

Antonsen has worked with many  leading international orchestras and the last few seasons have included  tours with the Trondheim Soloists, Stockholm Chamber and Israel Chamber Orchestras and the New European String Orchestra with Dmitri Sitkovetsky.  He has also performed with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra, Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Nationale de Belgique, Oslo Philharmonic, BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Kioi Sinfonietta Tokyo under Tadaaki Otaka.  Recent festival appearances with orchestra have included the Istanbul Festival and a return to the 1997 Schleswig-Holstein Festival.  In Autumn 1998, he opened the 1998/99 international recital series in Dublin with Wayne Marshall and appeared as the only classical soloist on an extended European tour  involving full symphony orchestra, chorus and a wide range of guest artists.  Future engagements include an Australian tour with the Australian Chamber Orchestra in
April 1999; returning to Japan and concerts with Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie, Suisse-Romande, Bergen Philharmonic, Trondheim, Tromso and Stavanger Symphony Orchestras.

His remarkable versatility has resulted in many successful collaborations with pop, rock and jazz musicians, including such artists as Randy Crawford, Rickie-Lee Jones, the Norwegian Radio Big Band and Willem Breuker Kollektief.

Ole Edvard Antonsen's first solo CD was released in 1989 and included contemporary music for solo trumpet and  Honegger, Françaix and Jolivet for trumpet and piano.  His most recent releases for EMI Classics include Shostakovich Piano Concerto No.1 (Mariss Jansons/Mikhail Rudy/ Berlin Philharmonic), Haydn, Telemann, Hummel, Neruda and Tartini concertos (Jeffrey
Tate/English Chamber Orchestra), a trumpet/organ duo recital disc with Wayne Marshall and a critically-acclaimed trumpet/piano recital disc in which he is partnered by Wolfgang Sawallisch.   His rock-inspired recording Tour de Force
sold over 100,000 copies in Norway alone and was released by EMI Classics in Autumn 1993.  His second pop album Read My Lips was released  in Norway in late 1997 and  internationally  in Spring 1998.

Contact details and further information

E-mail Askonas Holt

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