Concertmaster at the Oslo philharmonic

Norwegian born violinist Elise Båtnes is concertmaster at the Oslo philharmonic since 2008. She first played with the orchestra as a soloist when she was 10 years old under the baton of Maestro Mariss Jansons. She then became concertmaster of both WDR Köln and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra before returning to the Oslo philharmonic. Båtnes is in great demand as guest concertmaster all over Europe and she has recently collaborated with Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Real Madrid and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Båtnes also plays in smaller ensembles and she has won a Norwegian Grammy, the Spellemannprisen, for chamber music recordings with the Vertavo String Quartet. She is the first prize winner of the Melbourne international chamber music competition and she has recorded the Bartók and Prokofiev violin sonatas (LAWO label) with pianist Håvard Gimse.

Båtnes is a professor of violin at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She plays on Stradivarius violin ‘The Arditti’, dated 1689, on lifetime loan from Dextra Musica Norway.