15 Questions to Ole Edvard Antonsen

Hi! How are you? Where are you?
I am very good, and I am in Ludwigshafen, Germany, where I will be premiering a new piece by Christian Jost: “Pieta” tonight.

What’s on your schedule right now?
Tonight I am doing this premiere with the Philharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz. Last week I did 4 premieres of new pieces written for me in the Hardanger Musikkfest in Norway, and the next couple of weeks I will be doing concerts in the Bergen Int. Festival, in Eisenach (Germany) and I will conduct the Army Band from Bergen and playing a few concerts with my own Band (pop-band).

If you hadn’t chosen for music, what do you think you would do right now?
I would probably be with my own family somewhere, maybe at my summerhouse preparing for summer !?

What or who was your biggest influence as an artist?
I will say my father and the rest of my family, because there was always a lot different kind of music in our home and a lot of different great musicians coming and going. I had the opportunity to play in my fathers Big Band and also in his Windband beside that we had a family orhestra playing dance-music every holiday for 17 years !! And of course later, the great professor Harry Kvebæk who was my classical teacher.

What’s the hardest part about being a musician and what’s the best?
The hardest part is of course that you have to practise a lot every day, even in holidays and weekends when other people have their time off. The best part, is of course that the music can bring you away from the time and space to a place where nothing else excists.

What’s your view on the classical music scene at present? Is there a crisis?
I would not call it crisis, but there are big challenges coming.

Some feel there is no need to record classical music any more, that it’s all been done before. What do you tell them?
To a certain point they are right, but on the other hand the interesting thing about especially classical music, are the different interpretations. The record-companys are selling more and more repertoire rather than interpretations, and that makes music black and white. The colours/interpretations brings life into the music! We also need to focus more on new music.

What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion?
A good live performance is when there is an interactiv communiction between the performer(s) and the audience so that everyone feels that they are taking part in what is going on.

What’s your approach to performing on stage?
It really depends on what I am performing, but in general I focus so much on the music that I try to communicate directly through the music. Other times when the music might be more “show “ or lightmusic, I also try to get a visual contact with the audience so that everybody feels I am communicating directly to them.

What does the word “interpretation” mean to you?
Interpretation means that you put personality(not necesserily emotions) in to the piece/music.

True or false: It is the duty of an artist to put his personal
emotions into the music he plays.
False


True or false: “Music is my first love”
False

True or false: People need to be educated about classical music, before they can really appreciate it.
False

You are given the position of artistic director of a concert hall. What would be on your program for this season?
I would put on a lot of different styles of music and a lot of different great performers. I also like the idea of having a great performer be “Artist in Residens” and to let him/her do lots of different projects within one season.

What’s your favourite classical CD at the moment?
Unfortunately i don´t have one.

Have you ever tried playing a different instrument? If yes, how good were you at it?
I started playing the piano at the age of 3, but when I was 5, my parents moved the piano down to the basement and I was too scared of the dark. That was my career as a pianist !!

Discography:
Frelsesarmeens Juleplate(2004)
ABSOLUTE (2004)
JAN VAN DER ROOST In Flanders' Fields Vol.39 (2003)
Willem Breuker Kollektief (2002)
Ars Nova/Music by Wolfgang Plagge (2002)
New Sound of Baroque (2000)
Twentieth Century Trumpet (1998)
Read My Lips (1997)
Shostakovich Concerto for Piano and Trumpet (1995)
Popular Pieces for Trumpet & Organ (1994)
Trumpet Concertos (1993)
Tour de Force (1991/92)
The Virtuoso Trumpet (1989)

Homepage:
Ole Edvard Antonsen