One of the foremost current day bandoneon players, Per Arne Glorvigen’s contact with the instrument began as late as the age of 25, when after having finished the State Academy of Music in Oslo he moved to Paris and met Argentinian bandoneon maestro Juan José Mosalini.
After studying with Mosalini, and several sojourns in Buenos Aires later, Glorvigen began his career as a professional bandoneonist and meetings with tango legends Piazzolla, Pugliese, Salgán and a close friendship with poet Horacio Ferrer have proven critical in this process. In addition to playing tango, Glorvigen has expanded the repertoire of the bandoneon by playing everything from baroque, kletzmer, pop, and last but not least, contemporary music. Composers such as Willem Jeths (Holland), Bernd Franke (Germany), Henrik Hellstenius (Norway) and Luis Naon (Argentina/France) have all dedicated concertos to Glorvigen. Among his musical partners are artists and ensembles including Nicolas Altstaedt, Natalie Clein, Marie- Pierre Langlamet, Göran Sölscher, Tango for 3, the Leipziger, Delian, Maxwell, Apollon Musagète and Alban Berg String quartets, Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Staatskapelle Dresden, Komische Oper Berlin, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Liverpool Philharmonic, Orchestra Guiseppe Verdi Milano, the Oslo, Stockholm, Gothenburg, Malmö and Copenhagen (DR) Philharmonic, Russian National Orchestra, Soloists of the Orchestre de Paris, and l’Orchestre National d’ile de France.
His most important collaboration has nevertheless been with violinist Gidon Kremer, with whom he has recorded four CDs and played nearly a hundred concerts worldwide. His main partners today are the members of the Glorvigen Trio, violinist Daniela Braun and the double bassist Arnulf Ballhorn.
Per Arne has also worked as an entertainer and comedian, specialising in language sketches. After studies with Eric Tanguy (composition) and Guillaume Connesson (orchestration) in Paris, Glorvigen finds himself more and more dedicated to composition, and his works have been performed in most European countries. His first CD with fully original compositions was 2019’s Paris, Buenos Aires, Chicago and included cellist Andreas Brantelid and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. The same orchestra is also behind the subsequent double concerto for viola and bandoneon for Eivind Ringstad.
Earlier recordings can be found on Simax, Auvidis, Nonesuch, Sony Classical, Teldec, EMI Classics and Deutsche Grammophon.