Christian Ihle Hadland is
widely recognized as one of Norway’s most exciting young piano talents and
following his recital debut at the Norwegian Opera in 2008 was hailed in the Norwegian
press as an artist who ..’shows himself
as a unique musician whose artistry should be heard on the world’s concert
stages’, Magnus Andersson, Morgenbladet
With the announcement of becoming Statoil's Classical Artist for 2009 and his recent appointment as co-Artistic Director of the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival, Christian has now confirmed his reputation as one of Norway's most exciting rising stars.
Christian
made his Norwegian debut with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra/Eivind Aadland at
the age of 15, and has since gone on to perform with all of Norway’s leading orchestras,
including several appearances with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He has also received invitations to perform
with the Bavarian Radio Orchestra and the Czech Radio Philharmonic Orchestra,
as well as having appeared with the Aalborg Symphony Orchestra, Armenian
Philharmonic and Lithuanian Symphony Orchestras.
Christian is already highly sought-after both
recital and as a chamber musician and has appeared several times in prestigious
venues and festivals such as the Wigmore Hall, Risør Festival, the Stavanger
Chamber Music Festival, the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, the Schleswig Holstein
Music Festival and Kissinger Sommer. Since 2004 he has appeared annually at the Bergen
International Festival as both a solo recitalist and in chamber groups and he
has collaborated with such prestigious artists as Janine Jansen, Henning
Kraggerud, Lars Anders Tomter, Truls Mørk, Clemens Hagen, Christian Poltera,
and Ivry Gitlis. In 2006 he was invited
to accompany Renée Fleming at the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo which was televised
to a global audience of many millions. In 2010 Christian
was appointed joint Artistic Director of the Stavanger Chamber Music Festival
alongside Martin Fröst and he will be opening the 2011-12 season at the Oslo
Philharmonic performing Chopin, conducted by Saraste. Christian has performed
recently with the NRK Orchestra/Thomas Søndergård, Norkopping Symphony
Orchestra/Alan Buribeyev, and the Norwegian Opera Orchestra/Bernard Klee.
Christian released his
debut solo album in April 2010 for Simax Classics. This recording of works by
Chopin and Schumann in their 200 year anniversary year has attracted great
interest and strong reviews across the board. This recording follows on from the highly successful
recording partnership between Christian and Henning Kraggerud where they
recorded working by Norwegian composer Christian Sinding, also for Simax
Classics. Christian has also collaborated with singer, Isa Katharina Gericke in
2009 to produce recording of Eva Nansen’s work, also for Simax Classics called “Til
Eva”. Christian’s first recording was chamber works by Bela Bartok with
violinist Annar Follesø and clarinettist Björn Nyman in 2005 for 2L.
In 2000 Christian won the International Balys Dvarionas Competition in Vilnius, Lithuania, also receiving two extra awards for his interpretations of baroque and classical repertoire. In 2003 he went on to win the Rudolf Firkusny Competition in Prague and again won an addition award, inviting him to record a CD with the Czech Radio Philharmonic. At home he has won numerous prizes and awards including the Kjell Bækkelunds Prize in 2006, the Norwegian Soloist Prize, the Lindeman Prize in 2007 and the Shell Prize in both 2004 and 2007.
Christian Ihle Hadland was born in Stavanger in 1983 and received his first piano lessons at the age of eight. At the age of eleven he was enrolled at the Rogaland Music Conservatory, and in 1999 began lessons with professor Jiri Hlinka, the teacher of Leif Ove Andsnes among others, both privately and at the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo.