Ellen Ugelvik
Piano | Soloist | Norwegian | b. 1971
About Ellen Ugelvik
Ellen Ugelvik is a pianist who specialises in developing and performing new projects in cooperation with contemporary composers and artists. Ugelvik works as a soloist and chamber musician in Europe, USA and Asia, and her commitment to contemporary music is widely recognised. She was named 'Performer of the year 2016' by The Norwegian Society of Composers. In the periods 2008-2011 and 2017-2020 she received a state grant for performing artists, one of the most coveted awards in Norway.
Ugelvik has performed as a soloist with the most important orchestras and ensembles in Norway, in addition to international ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Ensemble Resonanz and Prague Music Performance Ensemble. She is a member of the ensembles asamisimasa and Jagerflygel.
Her first solo album, “George Crumb: Makrokosmos" (released on Grappa) was awarded the Spellemann (Norwegian recording industry) prize for Best contemporary album in 2008. She has also won two Spellemann prizes with her ensemble asamisimasa, for the albums ”Pretty Sound” (music by Simon Steen-Andersen) and “Neon Forest Space – asamisimasa plays the music of Øyvind Torvund”.
Alongside her freelance career, Ugelvik is Professor of contemporary music performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music, where she also leads NordART/Arne Nordheim Centre for Artistic Research. She completed a Ph.D. in artistic research in 2018, in which she premiered five new piano concertos.
