Christian Wallumrød
Biographie Christian Wallumrød
Christian Wallumrød
has worked as a musician and composer since 1992, and he is considered one of the most prominent and influential musicians of his generation in Norway.
Following his debut on ECM Records (“No Birch”, issued in 1996), he has released a string of albums with Christian Wallumrød Ensemble (CWE) on the same label, all to considerable critical acclaim. The record ’Outstairs’ was rewarded with the Norwegian Grammy (Spellemannsprisen 2013). While being the composer and leader of his own ensemble, Wallumrød also focusses strongly on improvisation with another longstanding collaboration, the French/Norwegian group Dans Les Arbres (DLA), also with two releases on ECM. These groups have represented the main body of his work over the last 20 years, and both are touring extensively.
Brutter (issued in 2012), Christian’s collaboration with drummer brother Fredrik, is a duo dive into human and machine driven pulses and has released three albums (on Norwegian label Hubro Music and on Bandcamp). Hubro Music is also the home for albums with CWE and Dans Les Arbres, as well as Wallumrød’s solo piano records Pianokammer (2015) and Speaksome (2021).
More recent bands and collaborations includes 3 pianos (with A.Tanaka and J.Lindvall, album out on Nakama Records) and a trio with Anna Petrini and Qarin Wikström and the duo Hammer and Steel, with Dans les arbres guitarist Ivar Grydeland, here performing the pedal steel.
Wallumrød has had long term collaborations with groups and artists such as Sidsel Endresen, Close Erase, Audun Kleive. He regularly gives solo performances and he has participated in a variety of ad hoc constellations with artists such as Susanne Sundfør, Nils Petter Molvær, Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer, Lasse Marhaug, Elin Rosseland, Streifenjunko, Karl Seglem, Terje Rypdal, Jim Denley, Valkyrien, Kim Myhr, DJ Strangefruit, Magda Mayas, Sofia Jernberg, Ronny Le Tekrø, Tony Buck, David Stackenäs, Oslo Sinfonietta.
Over the last few years Wallumrød has been commissioned to write for smaller chamber groups (a.o. BIT20, Håkon Stene, Barolo, BOA). The Ultima Festival (Oslo) and the AngelicA Festival in Bologna commissioned and put on his orchestra piece ‘When celebrities dream of casual sleep (second try)’ in 2013. For their 50th anniversary festival in 2014 Kongsberg Jazzfestival commissioned a piece from Wallumrød with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra (album released on Hubro Music, 2015). In 2015 Wallumrød wrote for the vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices and their project Gjestehus, premiered at Olavsfestdagene. The music is being released on album by Hubro Music in 2022. Norwegian dance company Ingun Bjørnsgaard Project commissioned music for the performance Notes on frailty, which was premiered at the Coda festival in 2017 and been touring extensively in Norway and abroad. At the Tromsø International Film Festival 2019 Wallumrød and his ensemble gave a performance with music written for a film concert version of Egil Håskjold Larsens film Where Man Returns. 2020-2021 saw the premiers of a string quartet (commissioned by Oslo Quartet Series for Oslo String Quartet) as well as new pieces for the Oslo based string orchestra Ensemble Allegria.
