Torkil Bye
Flute | Norwegian | b. 1942
About Torkil Bye
Torkil Bye (b. 1942) is one of Norway's most distinguished flautists, celebrated both as a soloist and as one of the country's most influential music educators.
He made his debut with the Oslo Philharmonic Society's Orchestra in 1959, and gave his first solo recital in 1961. At the age of sixteen he was engaged in a permanent position with the orchestra of the Norwegian Opera. Following studies in Zürich with André Jaunet and in New York with Julius Baker, he went on to hold permanent positions as solo flutist of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Harmonien) and later as solo flutist of the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra in Texas, before being appointed professor in Austin, Texas.
Torkil Bye has been widely recognised as both a soloist and pedagogue, giving concerts and masterclasses across Europe, Japan, the USA, Argentina and Peru. He received the Spellemannprisen in 1973 and won the Princess Astrid Music Prize in both 1958 and 1965. He later served as associate professor at Østlandets Musikkonservatorium, and subsequently as professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music until 2008.
His two digital releases on Lawo Classics document his long artistic partnership with pianist Helge Myhren. French Music for Flute and Piano (LWC1478) presents a programme drawn from the rich French flute tradition, while The Sound of Gold and Palladium Flutes (LWC1479) ranges across repertoire including Franz Benda, Kuhlau, Martinů and Milhaud. Together, the two albums offer a portrait of an artist whose musicianship spans centuries of repertoire with equal warmth and authority.
