Ragnhild Hemsing stands out amongst the rising stars in Norway as a remarkably poised artist.
Her unique upbringing, deeply immersed in the rich folk music traditions of Norway, enables her to be one of the first artists to successfully merge the instantly identifiable characteristics of Norwegian folk music and classical performance in a young, fresh and entirely contemporary fashion.
At only 14 years of age Ragnhild made her debut performing the Mendelssohn Concerto with both, the Bergen Philharmonic and the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Since then she has performed with all major Norwegian orchestras.
She supplements her large repertoire of standard solo classical works for violin with more unusual and complex works written for the Hardanger Fiddle.
The 2020/21 season marks the beginning of Ragnhild Hemsing’s exclusive collaboration with the CD Label Berlin Classics. Her debut album at Berlin Classics will be recorded as a co-production with WDR (West German Broadcasting Cologne) at the end of August 2020 and released in early 2021. Together with pianist Mario Häring and cellist Benedict Klöckner she grants deep insights into her Norwegian roots with a recital program including works by Edvard Grieg, Johan Halvorsen, Ole Bull, Johan S. Svendsen and traditional Norwegian folk music on the Hardanger fiddle.
Ragnhild ́s latest recording Northern Timbre was released in 2017 on 2L label together with the pianist Tor Espen Aspaas with works by Grieg, Sibelius and Nielsen.
Her album YR – named after a piece by the Norwegian composer Lasse Thoresen, which was performed by Ragnhild Hemsing 17 years after its origin – was enthusiastically received by the international press. The 2020/21 season is characterized by appearances as a soloist with renowned German and international orchestras such as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Munich Symphony Orchestra, the Staatskapelle Weimar and the Göttingen Symphony Orchestra. Moreover, Ragnhild Hemsing is a guest at several important festivals such as the Kissinger Sommer, the Weilburger Schlosskonzerte, the Hohenloher Kultursommer and the MDR Musiksommer.
Ragnhild Hemsing’s recording of Halvorsen’s Fossegrimen op. 21 with the Bergen Philharmonic and Neeme Järvi received outstanding critical acclaim. Since then, the two have worked closely together. For instance, Neeme Järvi subsequently invited Ragnhild to debut with the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra.
Other important debuts of the last years include a.o. the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Gothenburg Symphony, the NDR Radio Philharmonic Hannover, the Beethovenfest Bonn, the Nürnberger Symphoniker, the Freiburg Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orkest The Hague, the Tampere Philharmonic (Santtu-Matias Rouvali), the MDR Radio Symphony Orchestra Leipzig (Kristjan Järvi), the Risør Chamber Music Festival, the National Orchestra of Belgium, the Düsseldorf Symphony at the Tonhalle Düsseldorf, the Schwetzingen SWR Festival and the Tonhalle Zürich. She has performed the world premiere of Lasse Thoresen’s “Sprang”, together with her sister Eldbjørg and the Trondheim Soloists at the Bergen International Festival with further performances at St Petersburg’s Marinsky Concert Hall, the Bashmet Festival in Omsk, the Moravian Autumn in Brno, and at Trondheim celebrating the Trondheim Soloists’ 25th anniversary.
Ragnhild has given guest appearances at all major festivals of Norway, and she is a well-known artist on Norwegian radio and TV. Together with her sister, Eldbjørg Hemsing she recorded a one-hour documentary on the life of the famous Norwegian violinist Ole Bull which received an EBU award.
After her most successful debut at the Beethovenfest Bonn 2013, Ragnhild Hemsing was awarded the Beethoven- Ring of the “Citizens for Beethoven”.
Ragnhild is the artistic leader of the Hemsing Festival together with her sister Eldbjørg. They established the festival in 2013, which takes place in their hometown Valdres week 8 every year. For more info, see www.hemsingfestival.com
Ragnhild was born in 1988 into the heart of the Norwegian folk region, Valdres. She began to play the violin at 5 years of age and continued her studies at the prestigious Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, followed by studies with Boris Kuschnir in Vienna. She plays on a Francesco Ruggeri Violin (Cremona, 1694) kindly on loan from the Dextra Musica Foundation.
Photo: Nikolaj Lund
