Jon Øivind Ness

About Jon Øivind Ness

Jon Øivind Ness (b. 1968) studied guitar (1987–89) and composition (1989–1995) at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Olav Anton Thommessen, Lasse Thoresen, and Ragnar Søderlind as his mentors. Ness won the Norwegian Society of Composers' 'Work of the Year' award in 1993 for his orchestral work Schatten.

He was nominated for the Edvard Prize in 1997, 2000 (2 nominations) and 2002, winning in '97 and '00 for Cascading Ordure and Dangerous Kitten, respectively. Ness was Composer of the Year for Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (2002–03), Oslo Philharmonic (2012–13), and Bodø Sinfonietta (2012).

Ness's music has been nominated three times for Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy Awards), and he won in 2010 with the CD Low Jive together with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. Ness's tonal language is based on the use of bi- and polytonality developed structurally with quarter tones.

In recent years he has devoted himself more to arranging music in other genres, including a celebrated Bowie project in January 2020 together with Bård Bratlie, Peter Estdahl, Thomas Rimul, and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra.