Asbjørn Nørgaard

Asbjørn Nørgaard, has established himself as one of the most sought-after viola players in Denmark and is the recipient of multiple accolades, including Jacob Gade’s large music grant and Sonnings Music Scholarship. Asbjørn founded the Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet (Musical America’s Ensemble of the Year, 2020) as well as Inviolata, a viola-accordion duo. With these two ensembles, he is a prize-winner in several national and international competitions and has made multiple recordings. Asbjørn is also an experienced orchestral player, and has led the viola sections of the Copenhagen Philharmonic and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra. Asbjørn Nørgaard has studied in Copenhagen, Stockholm, and Berlin. He graduated from the soloist scheme at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2013 performing Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante at the Radio Hall in Copenhagen.

TEACHING

2015, Quartet in residence, RDAM
2020 – part-time teacher, RDAM

Price-winning students
Nicholas Swensen
1. Prize, Oskar Nedbal International Viola Competition, 2020
1. Prize, Julliard Viola Concerto Competition, 2021
3. Prize, Primrose International Viola competition 2021

Alva Holm
1. prize, "Solistpriset" 2022

Daniel Śledziński
1. prize P2's Chamber Music Competition, 2020 (Novo Quartet)
2. prize, Trondheim International Chamber music competition, 2021

ARTISTIC PRACTICE

Asbjørn is one-quarter of the Danish String Quartet, with whom he has received many awards and accolades, most recently as Musical America Ensemble of the Year in 2020. The quartet tours all over the world, and in 2020 they completed a concert cycle of all Beethoven’s string quartets at the Lincoln Center in New York. Their CD series ‘Prism’ was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2019. 2021-2024 the Danish String Quartet is artist in residence at the Wigmore Hall in Londen and Carnegie Hall in NYC. The Danish String Quartet are the organisers of both the DSQ Festival and the ‘Series of Four’ concert series. Here, the musicians in the quartet take on a more administrative role, while also acting as artistic leaders.

RESEARCH

With the accordeonist Andreas Borregaard Asbjørn Nørgaard is working on a a pedagogigal development project: ”The Master of Practice".