Rune Alver

About Rune Alver

Rune Alver (b. 1957) gave his debut performance as a pianist at age twenty. Born in Bergen, he trained at the Bergen Music Conservatory before continuing his studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

He has built an active career as both a solo performer and chamber musician, with a busy touring schedule that has taken him across Europe as well as to Russia, China, South Africa and the United States. A career highlight came in 2013, when he gave a solo debut performance at Carnegie Hall in New York. His work has also been featured in broadcasts on Norwegian public radio and television (NRK), as well as on the French station France Musique.

Alver has spent many years performing Edvard Grieg's works at the Troldhaugen museum dedicated to the composer. He often works alongside other musicians, actors and visual artists, moving comfortably between conventional and more experimental settings.

His recording catalogue includes praised albums covering the full piano output of several Norwegian composers, including Johannes M. Rivertz, David Monrad Johansen and Signe Lund. In 2019 he released an album centered on the music of Catharinus Elling, and in 2020 he followed with a recording of Signe Lund's piano compositions. In September 2025 he returned to Grieg with Mountain Dance (LWC1324), a program built around the composer's Humoresques Op. 6, the Piano Sonata in E minor Op. 7, Scenes from Folk Life Op. 19, the four Album Leaves Op. 28, and the Improvisations on Two Norwegian Folk Songs Op. 29.