RDAM viola player receives 250,000 DKK

"Sonning Prize for the Young" has been given to Asbjørn Nørgaard and Emil Gryesten

The viola player Asbjørn Nørgaard and the pianist Emil Gryesten receive Aennchen and Eigil Harbys' Foundation scholarships at a scholarship awarding concert on 27th August 2014 at 7.30 pm in Tivoli's Concert Hall. Free entrance with a Tivoli Annual Pass, otherwise the entrance fee to the concert is 50 DKK.

Aennchen and Eigil Harbys' Foundation
Aennchen and Eigil Harbys' Foundation was founded in 1994 and since then large scholarships in support of young artists on their way to a promising career have been awarded every year. The chosen two have received DKK 250,000 each. It is one of Denmark's largest prizes for young artists, also called the Sonning Prize for the Young.

This year the prize is awarded to the viola player Asbjørn Nørgaard, who graduated from the soloist class at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in 2013 and the pianist Emil Gryesten, soloist student at the Royal Academy of Music.

The presentation of the prizes takes place at a concert in Tivoli's Concert Hall on Wednesday 27th August at 7.30 pm, when the two prize recipients play together with a chamber orchestra consisting of students from RDAM and RAM under the direction of Henrik Vagn Christensen. The program includes among other things Teleman's Viola Concerto in G-major, as well as Mozart's Piano Concerto nr. 24 in C major.

Asbjørn Nørgaard
Asbjørn Nørgaard graduated from RDAM with a debut concert in 2013. He also received tuition in Berlin, Stockholm and Oslo and his most important teachers were Tim Frederiksen, Rafael Altino and Lars Anders Tomter. Asbjørn's primary platform is the Danish String quartet, who these years is "Ensemble in Residence" at the Lincoln Center in New York and is also elected as "BBC New Generation Artists". Furthermore Asbjørn Nørgaard is part of a duo with the accordionist Andreas Borregaard and has worked as solo viola player in orchestras such as. Copenhagen Phil, Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra, The Royal Danish Orchestra and the Danish National Chamber Orchestra.

Emil Gryesten
Emil Gryesten is student in the soloist class at the Royal Academy of Music and has previously studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki and the International Piano Academy Lake Como in Italy. His teachers number renowned capacities such as Erik Tawaststjerna, Dmitri Bashkirov, Fou Ts'ong and Anne Øland. At the age of 15 he won first prize at the Steinway Competition in Hamburg and in 2010 both first prize and the audience prize at the Nordic Pianist Competition at Nyborg Castle.

Read more about the Harby Foundation Concert