Norwegian euphonium star Tormod Flaten recently returned from a week at the International Tuba Euphonium Conference in Tucson, Arizona.

Tormod adjudicated in the semi-finals and finals of the Euphonium 'Artist Division' together with international colleagues in a competition won by Phil Giampietro.

Nordic flavour

The former Eikanger Bjorsvik player also brought a Nordic flavour to his playing contribution too with his recital 'Nordic Heritage' which featured compositions from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

Contemporary composers Aagaard-Nilsen and Kalevi Aho were represented with unaccompanied works for euphonium, whilst he also paid homage to his homeland's most famous composer Edvard Grieg, Sweden's Alfvén and Iceland's fascinating composer Jon Leifs.

My aim was to give the audience music from my part of the world and something which they probably hadn't heard before. I found some extraordinary music in my researchTormod Flaten

Extraordinnary music

Tormod told 4BR: "My aim was to give the audience music from my part of the world and something which they probably hadn't heard before. I found some extraordinary music in my research."

He added: "Jon Leifs' music represents the rough nature of Iceland as well as the barbaric sides of the country's history. Leifs' songs are pretty wild. Finland's top contemporary composer Kalevi Aho's work for unaccompanied euphonium entitled 'Solo VIII' is a really tough task to play in the middle of a recital, but it is such a good composition."

Top six team

At the final concert Tormod was one of six guest soloists with the U.S. Air Force Band from Washington D.C.

With Matt Van Emmerik of Australia, Alessandro Fossi from Italy and Patrick Sheridan, Velvet Brown and Benjamin Pierce from the US, Tormod gave the American premiere of the Norwegian hot shot composer Ørjan Matre's demanding work 'Hunting Low and High'.

Tormod commented: "It was a great pleasure to share the stage with such top class artists. The Air Force Band did a super job and I was proud to present Matre's fresh Norwegian piece at the conference. I was very happy with the performance and I also got to listen to some of the other fabulous soloists during the course of the concert."

Friends

The star concluded: "The organizers of the conference need a special mention. It all ran so smoothly. There were some truly exceptional performances this week and it's always a huge inspiration to hear different music and different playing styles by such a high number of world class soloists. I made a lot of new friends and spent some fascinating time with old friends from Europe, US, Australia and Japan."

Norwegian return

Tormod returned to Norway just in time for the euphonium exam of his Grieg Academy student, Jannicke Eide Ellingsen. Accompanied by her own band Eikanger-Bjørsvik and Jarle Rotevatn on piano she received the top grade ‘A’ awarded by Bjørn Bogetvedt of the Royal Norwegian Navy Band.