Stranded in NYC

Stranded in NYC for a week after "Hurricane Irene" barely hit Manhattan wasn´t really the worst place to be stranded in, to put it that way. But on the other hand, it had some challanges: had to cancel almost 10 concerts back home in Oslo and also had to administrate the last preparations for my Café de Concert-festival in three major cities in Norway - from overseas. Wasn´t easy but thank´s the magnificant Norwegian Seaman´s Church I managed to both practise and administrate as good as I would have been able to do in Norway. Thank you my wonderful friends in NYC who also contributed to makeing my extended stay as flawless as possible!! In a way I really don´t want to leave NYC (I never do, actually), but it will be all right to come back to my Café de Concert concert-gallery @ Tjuvholmen in Oslo to practise and prepare the festival. And also to get ready for the big in festivals in Tallinn (EST) and in Trondheim (NO) in the middle and in the end of September. Yup, gonna be a kick ass month!! Leaving this Sunday. Ready for more action!




Photos: Camilla Flaatten

Memorial concert in NYC Aug 22nd

The Memorial Concert for Oslo/Utøya in NYC was totally sold out, people were standing in the hallway, outside the concert-hall at the wonderful WMP. Thank you, everybody, for a wonderful evening in memory of July 22nd in Oslo. The Catalyst Quartet was fenomenal, and Jonas Båtstrand made the audience go completely bananas, what a wonderful NY-debut for him! Congrats!

Welcome to my festival in september :)

Time to get funky, people...

A piece of my Norwegian heart to my Norwegian people

A piece of my Norwegian heart to my Norwegian people

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZxnNyVWrj4&sns=fb

We were wounded in the heart of our country, but we will heal our country with the hearts of our people. Here is a piece of my heart to you all, my dear brothers and sisters.

Love, Aksel

EXIBITHIONday: AK - the new fragrance of art

Full house, lots of photos were sold, great party, wonderful people!




Read about the project here:
http://akselkolstad.blogspot.com/2011/06/ak-new-fragrance-of-art.html

See the complete series of art-photos here
http://blog.kraftimage.com/?p=643 Buy a photo? Contact Janne Kraft: jannekraft@gmail.com / +47 97633738

Swedish press: Aksel Kolstad is a world class pianist

@ Radio Swedish Radio P4 with Stenungsund´s cheif of tourism Björn Johnson (left) and Robert "Gretchen" Aug (right)

After performing at the Swedish Chamermusic Festival in Stenungsund last week I performed on Swedish national radio (P4) and made Stenungsund beat the big city of Göteborg in a competition in between the two cities. Read more about it here "Världspianist stod upp för Stenungsund - skickade ut Göteborg i kvartsfinalen"
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/gruppsida.aspx?programid=4168&grupp=15461

I was honored to present my wonderful Fredrikstad Chamer Orchestra for the Swedish audience at the opening concert where Jonas Båtstrand led them through Bartok´s 6 Rumanian Folkdances, Mendelssohn violin concert in d minor (with Båtstrand as soloist) and Tchaikovskij´s String Serenade. I also world premiered my newest piece for piano solo during that concert, "L´amour invisible". Full house and a very enthusiastic audience made the concert quite unforgettable for all of us musicians. The day after I had my solo concert at the same festival. Swedish press (Göteborgsposten) wrote this:

"Kolstad is often called to be the New Norwegian Victor Borge. I would rather call him the Franz Liszt of today"



PS: Fredrikstad Chamber Orchestra all fit in Café de Concert :D

Sponsorship from Tom Wilhelmsen Stiftelse

Tom Wilhelmsen Stiftelse gave me a sponsor-prize worth 35.000 NOK approx one week ago!!
Thank you so much! Yet again you have contributed to makeing my concerts and projects around the world come true! I am deaply thankful for that. And not only on my behalf, but for other musicians you also sponsor, makeing it possible for their dreams to come true also. I will go in the artistic ring and swing my deadly lefty and make you proud!
Love, Aksel