Helge Hurum

Helge Hurum (born 1 August 1936) is a Norwegian jazz musician, composer, arranger and musical director. Hurum has led several of Norway’s key big bands, including the Oslo University Big Band (1969–74), Norway’s Radio Big Band (1979–90), his own Helge Hurum Storband (1965–70), the EBU Big Band (1973), the Chateau Neuf Big Band and, in later years, the Oslo Big Band.

Hurum studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and has practiced as an autodidact contemporary composer with his works being performed by orchestras such as the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra (Concentus ad Libitum, 1979) and a number of marching bands. Hurum’s works Fata Morgana (1984) and Canto for Solo Piccolo and String Quartet (1985) were bestowed with NOPA Work of the Year Awards. His works Vind fer Vide and Blåsere i høyfjellet received EBU first prizes, while his Peer Gynt Suite was performed at the opening ceremony for the 1994 Winter Olympic Games in Lillehammer. Hurum’s list of works also includes a number of chamber music pieces for woodwinds and brass.

Hurum has contributed to a number of outings and released two solo albums Opus (1982) and Fata Morgana (1987). He has also performed his own compositions with his ensembles at the Molde and Kongsberg Jazz festivals as well as at the 1971 Montreux Jazz Festival with Clark Terry. 1973 saw Hurum leading the EBU Big Band, performing his commissioned work This Time Oslo.

In addition to a substantial number of compositions for jazz ensembles, Hurum has composed a number of major works. 1976 saw Hurum composing Tre akter for marching band, a test piece for the Norwegian Marching Band Championships. Hurum’s jazz mass Hear Thou Our Prayr was commissioned by O.R Antonsen at the Toneheim Folk High School and premiered by UK vocal outfit Swingle Singers in 1978. Concentus ad libitum for jazz quintet and symphony orchestra, premiered by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra and Jan Garbarek 1979, is also viewed as one of Hurum’s key works.

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