Jens Elvekjær
Jens Elvekjær studied under Prof. John Damgaard at the Royal Academy of Music, and has also studied under Ferenc Rados in Budapest, Lazar Berman in Florence and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg and the International Academy in Vienna. He has also studied chamber music with the Alban Berg Quartet at the Musikhochschule, Cologne.
In 2005 he became the first Dane ever to be named a Steinway Artist.
Teaching
Since 2008, Jens Elvekjær has taught principal study students in piano at RDAM, as well as students in the Advanced Postgraduate Diploma in Music (soloist) class – from 2012 as Associate Professor. As of 1 April 2020, he has been appointed Professor in piano and chamber music at RDAM.
“My hope is to help to create a super-dynamic Danish piano environment with creative, innovative pianists who can open up and make unique classical music an important part of as many people’s everyday lives as possible” – Jens Elvekjær
Artistic practice
As one of Scandinavia’s leading pianists, Jens has played concerts all over the world, in the past 20 years especially with his trio, Trio con Brio Copenhagen, with whom he has played almost 1,500 concerts. Bookings for this and next season include the Boulez Saal in Berlin, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Theatre de la Ville Paris, Kennedy Center Washington DC and the DR Koncerthuset and Tivoli Concert Hall in Copenhagen.
There have also been a number of CD releases, including eight critically acclaimed releases with Trio con Brio Copenhagen, a solo CD of music by Debussy, Ravel and Franck, and a recording of Carl Nielsen’s chamber music.
Alongside his artistic career, Jens Elvekjær is also an active entrepreneur on the Danish music scene, and has in recent years been a founder and artistic director of several festivals, including the Copenhagen Chamber Music Festival and Chamber Music at Lundsgaard.
He is also chairman of the Hellerup Chamber Music Association, which has become one of the country’s largest and foremost music associations.
2019: Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Honorary Scholarship
2015: Danish Radio P2 Artist’s Prize with Trio con Brio Copenhagen
2005: Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson International Trio Award, USA
2003: Allianz preis at Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
2003: 1st prize, Premio Vittorio Gui, Florence
2003: 1st prize, Danish Broadcasting Corporation Chamber Music Competition
2002: 2nd prize (no 1st prize awarded) ARD Munich
2002: 1st prize, Trondheim Chamber Music Competition
2001: 2nd prize, Haydn Wettbewerb, Vienna
2000: 1st prize, Brahms Wettbewerb, Austria
In addition, Jens has received the YMFE Scholarship, the Van Hauen Scholarship and the Børge Schrøder Memorial Scholarship, amongst others.
Artistic development (KUV)
“The fourth person” - Who is the “fourth person” in a piano trio? The project delves into the dynamics and the fascinating and secret mechanisms of a classical ensemble. Is it possible to explain how the soul of an ensemble arises, and how a unique language and invisible signs are created? And why do musicians actually play better when they play with their partners?
Numerous tours have taken Jens around much of Europe, Asia and the USA, where he has played with Trio con Brio or alone in such legendary concert halls as the Berlin Konzerthaus, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall, NY. He has also taken part in broadcasts on the BBC, National Public Radio (USA), Danish Radio, Korean Broadcasting Systems, Austrian Radio, Hessischer Rundfunk, ARD, Deutschland Radio Berlin, NRK, SR and RAI.
Jens has given numerous masterclasses at home and abroad, including at Yale University, Rice University, USA, Münchner Musikhochschule and Jiri Hlinka Academy in Norway.
Member of the jury in ARD-Wettbewerb in Munich and the Steinway Competition in Denmark.
Representative duties, directorships
- Chair of Hellerup Chamber Music Association
- Chair of Chamber Music at Lundsgaard.
CD releases
Beethoven
Piano Trios vol. 1-3
Trio Con Brio Copenhagen
ORC 100081, 100091 and 100101
Tchaikovsky & Smetana
Piano Trios
Trio con Brio Copenhagen
ORC 100051
B. Sørensen; P. Nørgård; H. Abrahamsen
Phantasmagoria – Danske klavertrioer
Trio con Brio Copenhagen
Dacapo 8.226108
Mendelssohn
Piano Trios op.49 & 66
Trio con Brio Copenhagen
CDK 1014
Beethoven
Triple Concerto op.56, Piano Concerto op.37
Trio con Brio Copenhagen, Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Mathias Aeschbacher
CDK 1050
Ravel, Dvořák, Bloch
Piano Trio in A minor; Piano Trio No. 4; 3 Nocturnes
Trio con Brio Copenhagen
Azica Records
Carl Nielsen
Kammermusik Vol. 2
Jon Gjesme, Tue Lautrup, Jens Elvekjær, DiamantEnsemblet
Dacapo 8.226065
Debussy, Ravel, Franck
Prelude, chorale & fugue; Gaspard de la Nuit; Image II og L’Isle Joyeuse
Jens Elvekjær
ClassCD711
