The pianist Einar Røttingen is Professor of Music Performance at the Grieg Academy, University of Bergen. He was educated at the Bergen Music Conservatory (after 1995: Grieg Academy) and Eastman School of Music. Røttingen has performed extensively throughout Europe, USA, Japan, and China. In addition to performing standard repertoire, such as concert series with Beethoven’s piano and chamber works, he has actively collaborated with many composers and commissioned new works. He has especially contributed to presenting works by Norwegian composers throughout the world.
Røttingen’s interest in 20th Century music has resulted in performances of works such as Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt regards sur l'enfant-Jésus, Oiseaux Exotiques and Des canyons aux étoiles and George Crumb’s complete Makrokosmos I-IV. He is also an active chamber musician and a member of the Valen Trio together with violinist Ricardo Odriozola and cellist John Ehde. His extensive collaboration with the singer Njål Sparbo resulted in performances of Edvard Grieg’s complete songs in 2007 and recent recordings of the complete songs of Geirr Tveitt.
CD recordings include the complete solo piano music and Piano Concerto of Harald Sæverud (1996), solo CDs Avgarde (2000) and Norwegian Variations (2005, “Selection” in International Piano and awarded “Record of the year” by International Edvard Grieg Society of Great Britain), and collaborative CDs with violin: Hika (2001), with flute: Chromos (2007), with voice: Serre Chaudes (2009), Fête Galantes (2016), Voices of Women (2015), and piano four hands: George Crumb’s Makrokosmos III-IV (2003). Important CD releases also include Gardens of Hokkaido (2010, with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra), Valen Trio (2013), Chamber Works of Knut Vaage (2020) and a series of eight CDs Chamber Works of Ketil Hvoslef (2014-2022).
In 2006 he completed the PhD dissertation at the Norwegian Academy of Music: Establishing a Norwegian Piano Tradition: Interpretive Aspects of Edvard Grieg’s Ballade Op. 24, Fartein Valen’s Sonata No. 2 Op. 38 and Geirr Tveitt’s Sonata No. 29 Op. 129. He was the project leader for the three-year artistic research project (Un-) settling Sites and Styles: In Search of New Expressive Means (2017-2021) sponsored by Grieg Academy, University of Bergen and the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme.
Røttingen has currently taken an interest in the music of Morton Feldman and performed his Triadic Memories in 2023, and Trio with the Valen Trio in 2024 as part of the Artistic Research project Sounding Philosophy at the Grieg Academy (dir. Dàniel Birò).
Røttingen has initiated and organised contemporary music activities in Bergen (festivals, ensembles, concert series). As board leader of the International Edvard Grieg Society, he has been involved with arranging bi-annual conferences/workshops and international exchanges (2011-2021). Einar Røttingen was awarded the City of Bergen Cultural Prize (1993) and The Bergen International Festival Robert Levin Festival Prize (1997).
http://www.einarrottingen.com