Wolfgang
Plagge was born in Oslo, Norway, of Dutch parents in 1960. At a very early age
he showed a genuine interest of classical music, and started playing the piano
as well as writing his first compositions aged four. He was ten when he won an
international talent competition in English television; one year later he also
won the Young Pianists' Competition in Oslo.
In 1972 he made a sensational
recital debut in Oslo - with HM King Olav V present in the auditorium. He went
on to win several national and international prizes in the years to follow, among
them the Forsberg Legate in 1979 and the Levin Prize in 1987. In 1986 he concluded
his six years of study at the Musikhochschule in Hamburg, Germany, with distinction.
He pursues an active career as an international pianist, and is much in
demand as a chamber musician. He has been performing as a soloist with a great
number of orchestras in Norway and abroad, and has worked with internationally
renown artists as Ole Edvard Antonsen, Jens Harald Bratlie, Alexandr Dmitriev,
Philippe Entremont, Lutz Herbig, Piotr Janowski, Evgeni Koroliov, Solveig Kringlebotn,
Truls Mørk, Robert Oppenheimer, Robert Rønnes, Leif Segerstam, Randi
Stene, Roberto Szidon, Lars Anders Tomter, Frøydis Ree Wekre and many others.
He has recorded CDs on the SIMAX, 2L, Crystal and Norske Gram labels.
Wolfgang
Plagge the Composer had his first work published at aged twelve, and has since
steadily developed into a mature, original and prolific creative artist. His oevre
spans from liturgic music to symphonic works, and chamber music as well as piano
music appears to be a central part. He has a specific interest of winds, and has
written a number of important works for woodwind and brass in chamber music constellations.
Several of his works have already been accepted as standard repertoire: His first
Horn Sonata has appeared as a mandatory piece in several international Wind Competitions.
His
particular love for and research on Medieval music of Northern Europe has been
inspirational for a substantional number of works, and still is.
Ever
since his student days in Norway and Germany the phenomenon Time has been one
of Plagge's main focusing points: Studying the time flow, manipulating our sense
of time and how to utilize time as a forming tool have been central items in his
creative process.
Wolfgang
Plagge's music is being performed by musicians, ensembles and orchestras all over
the world, and his reputation as a composer is ever growing. In 1996 he was created
"Composer of the Year" with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. He received
the American ASCAP Award for 2001 and won the Vocal Nord composers' contest 2003.
A number of works are recorded on CD; scores can be obtained through 2L e-scores,
Musikk-Husets Forlag AS Oslo, or the Norwegian Music Information Center. Wolfgang
Plagge is a member of the Norwegian Society of Composers. |