Kalevi Olli

Kalevi Olli is a renowned concert and oratorio baritone who has concertized throughout Europe. He was born in Finland in 1951 where he received his early training. He gained renown as a singer in his native Finland through concerts and competitions. Later, in 1978, he was engaged by the Frankfurt Opera House in Frankfurt, Germany, where he continued his career as well as his voice training with K.H.Jarius. Mr. Olli's musical breakthrough came after winning the International Genfer Muslkwettbewerb Competition in 1981. He continues to concertize throughout Europe and records as well.

Ulrich Koneffke

Ulrich Koneffke, who was born in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1957, had a very diverse musical education during his youth, but serious study of the piano began in 1977 with professor Leonard Hokanson in Frankfurt. After completing his studies, he began his career as pianist with the Grüneburg Trio. The Trio won several national and international competitions, including theARD-Wettbewerb Competition in 1981 and this resulted in many concert engagements for them. Mr. Koneffke has been the accompanist for Kalevi Olli during his concert tours.

Ingrid Bjoner

Ingrid Bjoner, who was born on November 8, 1928 in Kraakstad, Norway, studied to be a pharmacist at the University of Oslo where she took and passed her exam in this field. She did not, however, pursue this as a career choosing instead to study voice with Gudrun Boellemose in Oslo. A concert which she gave in 1951 at the Oslo Cathedral gave her some excellent reviews and helped launch her career. Voice studies continued in Frankfurt, Germany, under the tutelage of Paul Lohmann at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule. Her later studies included those with Franziska Mattienseen-Lohmann in Dusseldorf, Germany.

Ms. Bjoner gave her New York City debut in 1957 at the Wuppertal Opera House where she sang the part of Donna Anna in Mozart's "Don Giovanni". In her native Norway she continued to sing operatic roles including one of the three Norns and Gutrune in Wagner's "Götterdämmerung" in which she appeared with Kirsten Flagstad. Her performances led to an engagement with the Oslo Opera. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Germany where her career as an opera singer continued. Performances followed at the State Opera of Vienna, Austria, as well as Hamburg, Germany. She also sang at Covent Garden in London, England, and with the San Francisco Opera in San Francisco, California. In 1960 Ms.Bjoner sang the roles of Freia and Gutrune in the Wagnerian Festival held in Bayreuth, Germany.

1961 saw her join the State Opera in Munich where she sang the role of the empress in Richard Wagner's opera "Die frau ohne Schatten", which was the opera chosen to open the newly-rebuilt opera house. Other performances include the role of Isolde in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" at the Centennial Festival in Bayreuth.

From 1962 to 1967 Ms. Bjoner was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in New York City where she sang a variety of operatic roles. Engagements followed at Covent Garden in London, England, at the opera in Warsaw, Poland, and in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 1970, at the Staedtische Opera in Berlin, Germany, and the Staatsoper in Stuttgart, Germany. Ms. Bjoner is currently on the faculty of the Copenhagen Opera Academy and in 2001 she will serve on the jury of the Queen Sonja International Music Competition. Ms. Bjoner has been given the Order of St. Olav by King Olav V of Norway (1964)..

EINAR STEEN-NÖKLEBERG

Nökleberg, born in Norway in 1944, studied piano with Nicolai Dirdal and Hans Leygraf as well as clavichord with Lajos Rovatkay with whom he specialized in the interpretation of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Winner of both Scandinavian and international competitions, he has given concerts throughout Germany

In 1975 he was given a chair at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Hannover, Germany. He now teaches at the music conservatory in Oslo, Norway. Mr. Steen-Nökleberg has concertized throughout Europe and the former USSR, the USA, South America and Japan as well as other countries in the Orient.

Mr. Steen-Nökleberg is in demand as a teacher and jurist at piano competitions such as the Gina Bachaer International Piano Competition and the Grieg International Piano Competition. He’s also the President of the European Piano Teachers Association for 2001.

Renowned for his interpretations of the music of Grieg, Mr. Steen-Nökleberg recently published the book Onstage with Grieg and is editor of the new Henle edition of the complete Grieg piano works, all of which he has recorded on the Naxos label.

“I am a relative newcomer to BriosoRecordings®... yesterday I got BR 100. This is a truly revelatory performance of the Beethoven cello sonatas... Metzmacher is to the cello what Backhaus was to the piano. Rock solid, very musical, deeply humane. I knew Steen-Nokleberg from his series of Grieg's piano works on Naxos, and he is once again in top form here. This goes right to the top, alongside Piatigorsky/ Solomon.”
Greg Weis, Associate Professor of Philosophy, USC Aiken