When Norwegian conductor Bjarte Engeset graduated in conducting from the Sibelius Academy in 1989, he did so with flair. With the highest possible score from the panel of jurors, he was acclaimed as one of the Academy’s best students of all time. Several years later he was invited to the eminent Conductor’s Seminar at the Tanglewood Music Center, Boston University, renowned as one of the world’s leading centres for higher education in music. Bjarte Engeset can boast many successes. His début with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in London in 1997 was very well received, and his recordings of Norwegian orchestral music by Grieg and Tveitt have also been widely acclaimed. He has been chief conductor and artistic director for the Tromsø Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director for the Northern Light Festival and Opera Nord. He has directed orchestras in most European countries, conducted opera and made guest appearances at orchestra houses in Mexico, the United States and Japan. He has also been guest conductor for the Flemish Radio Orchestra. In 2006 he was guest conductor of the Moscow Radio Orchestra at the prestigious Wörthersee Classics Festival in Klagenfurt, Austria. Since 2007 Bjarte Engeset has been artistic director of DalaSinfoniettan symphony orchestra in Sweden. As the regional orchestra of Dalarna county it is a common sight around the region, giving concerts at Dalhalla and at the Music at Lake Siljan festival each summer.
