Søren Nørbo

Associate Professor, Piano, Composition, Songwriting, Ear Training

Pianist and composer. 10 releases primarily with own compositions, among others with Joakim Milder, Django Bates, Kresten Osgood, Nils Davidsen, Niels Præstholm, Lars Skinnebach, Ulrik Spang-Hanssen.

Subjects 2023-24:
Piano, main instrument
Piano, elective
Ear Training, BA1 and BA2
Concerts each week with students from all departments
Composition, BA and Master elective (3 classes)
Composition, Songwriting, Master
Inspiration – and Practice. BA elective
Forum for Artistic Development, BA1
Improvisation, Classical Students, Master

In the Piano classes, main instrument, the lessons are organized based on each individual student. In addition to working towards basic pianistic skills, the starting point is that the students must find their own path, their own voice and explore possibilities. Working with improvisation, composition and repertoire and focus on band and concert activities and projects are obvious keywords for the classes. The joy and curiosity of the music and the piano as an instrument is essential.

Ear training on BA1 and BA2, are naturally focused on the basic ear training curriculum as well as on the whole musicianship and the creative element.

Concerts: Each Tuesday night a student rehearses with me. Wednesday night, we play a public concert in The Chamber Music Hall. I aim to compose music to each event and to the specific student participating.

Composition is an elective with weekly assignments of larger or smaller extent. The tasks are essentially different from week to week. The creative element and the conversations about the compositions and other subjects that may be relevant in relation to being a creative artist form a common space, where the insight into each other’s workspaces, processes, and musical expressions also becomes an essential part of the classes. A consistent dogma for the elective over the years has been that I do not reuse material, and this aims to ensure that the creative element in the composition process is also reflected in the organization of the subject.

Inspiration – and Practice, is an elective, with assignments from week to week and with tasks solved during the lessons in separate rooms. The tasks are intended to stimulate a varied, relevant, inspiring, and joyful practice. As the title suggests, the purpose of the subject is that inspiration forms the foundation for practice and blurs or changes the experience of practice as a discipline in itself.
Forum for Artistic Development is to a very high degree the students’ own subject. The students develop and complete a personal musical project during the semester, and they get inspiration and share experiences with each other. In this forum the teachers are most of all present to coordinate and make things happen.

Improvisation for Classical Students is an elective that is based on the students’ own musical background and musicality. The terms interpretation, personal impression and improvisation are closely related, and the aim is to clarify the individual’s way of relating to how the music is approached. A wide range of approaches is presented that can be used by everyone.