BIT20 Ensemble

BIT20 Ensemble
Chamber orchestra
Founded1989 (1989)
LocationBergen, Norway
Concert hallGrieghallen
Websitewww.bit20.no

The BIT20 Ensemble is a contemporary music ensemble from Bergen, Norway, founded in 1989. It was formed in the merger of the quartet, Bit4, and Ensemble 20.[1]

The ensemble has headquarters at Grieghallen. During its history, BIT20 Ensemble has performed more than 400 works and the ensemble serves as an important Nordic platform for new music, commissioning over 100 original works that have premiered internationally. The core of the BIT20 Ensemble is its 17 Principal Players. The ensemble's recordings comprise a catalogue of 20th-century classics, on numerous labels.

BIT20 Ensemble specializes in new Norwegian music and has commissioned and premiered hundreds of Norwegian works as well as contributed to 26 CD recordings, including composers such as Arne Nordheim, Ketil Hvoslef, Kristine Tjøgersen, Knut Vaage and Øyvind Torvund. In 2019 the ensemble released Torvund's composition The Exotica Album on the label Hubro Music.[2]

Promoting children's interest in music and art is an important objective for the BIT20 Ensemble, which since 2007 has involved several thousand children in educational projects.[3] Modern opera is also a fundamental sphere of the BIT20 Ensemble's activities. Since the start of its collaborations with Opera Vest and later Den Nye Opera, the BIT20 Ensemble has participated in more than 20 operas.

  1. ^ "BIT20 Ensemble | Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  2. ^ Walton, Sam (19 December 2019). "Øyvind Torvund - Øyvind Torvund: The Exotica Album. BIT20 Ensemble, Møster, Træen. Hubro, HUBROCD2580". Tempo. 74 (291): 111–113. doi:10.1017/S0040298219000883. S2CID 214429612.
  3. ^ McPherson, Gary (2018). McPherson, Gary; Welch, Graham (eds.). Creativities, Technologies, and Media in Music Learning and Teaching: An Oxford Handbook of Music Education, Volum 5. Oxford University Press. pp. 103–104. ISBN 9780199928019.