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Espen Berg

Norwegian pianist and composer.

About Me

Espen Berg, born June 30th 1983 in Hamar, is a Norwegian pianist, arranger and composer living in Trondheim, Norway.

His debut album as a solo pianist, Noctilucent, was awarded by All About Jazz for being one of the top ten albums of

2012. Espen has been touring around the world since 2003, and has collaborated with artists such as Trondheim

Jazzorkester, Seamus Blake, Silje Nergaard, Mathias Eick, Hildegunn Øiseth, Marius Neset, Daniel Herskedal, Mats

Eilertsen and many more. He has played on more than 30 albums, of which 10 as a leader, and is frequently touring in

Europe and Asia with Espen Berg Trio, which released its fourth album in May 2022. The trio’s third album was listed as

one of the best releases of 2019 by Downbeat (US).

Espen was awarded Norway’s largest jazz scholarship «JazZtipendiatet» at Molde Int’l Jazz Festival 2016, which resulted

in a commissioned work for Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, premiering at Moldejazz in 2017. He premiered another

commissioned work for Trondheim Jazzfestival, Maijazz Stavanger and Oslo Jazz Festival in 2022, featuring a brand new

sextet, Water Fabric. In October 2022, Espen will release his third solo album, The Trondheim Concert, which is a live-

recording of a freely improvised concert.

Espen has received government grant from Arts Council Norway multiple times, and also works as an associate professor

at NTNU’s jazz department. He was awarded for being the best soloist in Hoeliaart Int’l Jazz Competition in 2007,

participated in Montreux Solo Jazz Piano Competition in 2012 and 2013, and Espen Berg Trio was appointed official

NTNU Ambassador in 2016.

Contact Me

My Jazz Story

I started playing the piano at the same time I started learning how to walk. I was self-taught up until age 16 when I got my first jazz lessons with another renowned Norwegian jazz pianist Helge Lien. The school assigned me to a jazz course without me knowing it, and I was very skeptical to begin with. I didn't know what jazz was, but decided to give it a shot. Helge instantly threw me into the world of free improvisation, and even though it was uncomfortable to begin with I quickly realized that it wasn't too far off how I had discovered music and how to play the piano in the first place. Playing whatever coming to your mind is the greatest musical resource there is. 20 years later, free improvisation has become the main pillar of my solo project.