Håvard Gimse

Håvard Gimse is best known for his interpretations of piano works by Sibelius and Grieg. Gimse’s repertory covers works by such relatively obscure composers as Geirr Tveitt (much of the solo output and several concertos), Klaus Egge, Ole Bull, and others. Yet, Gimse can hardly be called a specialist as his repertory takes in works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven, among many others. He has toured throughout Europe, the Americas, and Japan and has performed at such prestigious venues as Carnegie Hall, London’s Wigmore Hall, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. Gimse joined cellist Truls Mørk for a recording of cello sonatas by Bridge, Britten, and Debussy in 2022.
Gimse was born in Kongsvinger, Norway, on September 15, 1966. He began piano lessons at age six and later studied at the Norwegian State Music Academy. In 1987, he won first prize at the Jugend Musiziert Competition in Frankfurt. Naxos issued a recording of Grieg works in 1993 with cellist Øystein Birkeland that included Gimse performing the Op. 7 Sonata. He gave his American debut in 1994 with the Riverside Symphony Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall in a highly praised performance of Prokofiev’s difficult Fifth Concerto. Meanwhile, Gimse was studying for an advanced degree at the Berlin Hochschule der Künste, earning it in 1995. Gimse’s career was soon in orbit, aided by a series of prestigious citations, including the Steinway Prize in 1995 and the Grieg Prize in 1996. In 1997, he began serving at the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, where he also performs and sits on the board of directors. 1997 was also the year Gimse began recording the Sibelius solo output for Naxos, with the final volume issued in 2004. That year, Gimse was awarded the Sibelius Prize.
Gimse has gained positive notice in the chamber realm: in 2005, he made a highly successful tour of Japan with violinist Arve Tellefsen and cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson. Later that year, Gimse appeared in a series of acclaimed concerts with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in performances of the Grieg concerto. Gimse teamed with Tellefsen once more in 2010 for a tour of Norway marking the 200th anniversary of Ole Bull’s birth; that year, Gimse was also heard on the violinist’s album Arve Tellefsen plays Ole Bull. The following year, Gimse issued a recording of works by Schumann and Schubert on the Naim label.
Gimse previously served as the artistic director of the Elverum Festival in Norway and is the music director of the Fredrikstad Mozart Festival. He is a piano professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. In 2022, Gimse joined cellist Truls Mørk, a longtime collaborator, for a recording of cello sonatas by Bridge, Britten, and Debussy on the Alpha label. ~ Robert Cummings & Keith Finke