The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces & Ole Kristian Ruud
Biography The Staff Band of the Norwegian Armed Forces & Ole Kristian Ruud
Ole Kristian Ruud - Conductor
Since 2006 Ole Kristian Ruud has been the music director of the Staff Band of
the Norwegian Armed Forces. He has raised the quality of the band to new heights.
Ruud has an exceptionally well-tuned ear for detail and for musical line, and always
inspires musicians to play with heart and feeling. In close cooperation with the band’s
programming committee, Ruud has succeeded in establishing the band’s reputation
internationally, and it is widely recognized as an ensemble that both upholds its traditions and explores new musical ideas and works.
Ole Kristian Ruud has a wide-ranging background. After completing his studies at the
Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, he made
his debut as conductor with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1985. From 1987 to
1995 he was artistic director of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. He was Chief
Conductor of the Norrköping Symphony Orchestra from 1996 to 1999, and artistic
director of Norwegian repertoire for the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra from 2000 to
2003. He has appeared as guest conductor with most Scandinavian orchestras. He has
taken orchestras on several tours abroad, and has also conducted orchestras in other
countries, including Germany, Austria, France, Spain, England, the USA and Japan.
He has played a prominent role in recording Norwegian music with the Oslo Philharmonic
Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Trondheim Symphony
Orchestra and the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra.
Ruud has recorded Ole Bull’s violin concertos with Annar Follesø and the Norwegian
Radio Orchestra for 2L, and he will also conduct the Staff Band of the Norwegian
Armed Forces in our coming recording of works from Norway’s golden age of wind
music.
Ruud has been professor of conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music since
1999. He is also artistic director for the Norwegian National Youth Orchestra. He
has won several prizes. He was awarded the Grieg Prize in both 1992 and 2007, the
Norwegian Music Critics’ Award in 1993, the Lindemann Prize in 1994, the Johan
Halvorsen Prize in 1996 and the Stiklestad Prize in 2004.
