Baard Winther Andersen

Baard Winther Andersen was born in Oslo, and as his mother is a singer and singing teacher, he grew up with a great deal of classical music around.

− She sang with us from when we were little and helped us with our practicing, took us to concerts and made concerts with us, he says.

− He was very inspirational

One of the most decisive steps towards becoming a musician was taken as a twelve-year-old, when he started studying with Leif Jørgensen.

− He was greatly inspirational and produced several generations of string players who were passionate about orchestra playing and orchestral repertoire. As a fifteen-year-old I got to participate in courses with Ungdomssymfonikerne through him. After three summers there with symphonic repertoire, I was sold. I remember especially Brahms’ and Mahler’s First symphonies. I was simply sucked into a world which was completely irresistible.

Baard started as a substitute in the Norwegian orchestras from when he was seventeen, was a soloist on “Young Talents” and later studied music in Cologne and Amsterdam. In 1997 he returned to Norway and auditioned for the Philharmonic. He got the job, and has led a busy musical life since then:

− Next to my job in the orchestra I have taught, played chamber concerts, been a member of the Oslo Sinfonietta, Ensemble Ernst and The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, had my own concert series with Parlanduo and been an instructor.

− The music comes alive and communicates directly with us

The violinist speaks emphatically of the unique cultural experience a concert with the orchestra can offer:

−The Philharmonic has in its charge a European treasure chest with music from the 1700s until today. At its best the music comes alive and communicates directly with us, regardless if it was written yesterday or three hundred years ago. When you have experienced this, you want to experience it again and again. And that’s completely possible!

Baard has many favourite composers and mentions in one go Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler, Debussy, Ravel, Sibelius, Grieg, Mozart, Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Berlioz, Bartók, Shostakovich and Messiaen.

− In addition we often have great soloists who command the impossible, the fantastic and the improbable … it must simply be shared with as many as possible! All you need to do is to close your eyes and let it happen. That is, if you are in the audience. I mostly have to keep my eyes open and my ears tuned.

Music takes up a lot of space in Baard’s life, but he does have space for some other things too:

− I am a passionate tennis player, have a family, and love to read. After that, my life is pretty much full.