The Pianist Joachim Knoph is a distinguished expert for the piano work of the Norwegian composer Johan Kvandal, who “renders the music with grace and affection” (Fanfare Music Magazine). His recording of Kvandal´s complete music for solo piano (Grand Piano/NAXOS) received very favourable reviews and was streamed more than 1,000,000 times on spotify. For his album Å her møter mangt – Songs by Johan Kvandal with soprano Isa Katharina Gericke (LAWO, 2021) he was nominated for the German OPUS Klassik Award in three categories – among these: “Instrumentalist of the Year” alongside renowned musicians such as Martha Argerich, Marc-André Hamelin, Leif Ove Andsnes.

“With great calm and a round, warm, vivid tone, he shapes the mostly short pieces, giving them depth and profile.” (Piano News)

An active soloist and chamber musician, Joachim Knoph performed on numerous international stages throughout Europe, China and Russia, among those are the Rachmaninov Hall in the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the Jin Mao concert hall in Shanghai, and the Rachmaninov Festival in Tambov (Russia). The pianist has collaborated with many of Norway’s most distinguished instrumentalists and singers and is the recipient of several prizes including the Yamaha Music Foundation award. In July 2022, Joachim Knoph was invited to hold a residency at Edvard Grieg´s home "Troldhaugen" in Bergen performing 20 lunchtime concerts and a solo recital. Moreover, Joachim Knoph premiered numerous new works, such as the music for the film Upperdog by Norwegian composer Marcus Paus, which received 5 Amanda awards (the “Norwegian Oscars”), the first recording of two piano concertos by Flint Juventino Beppe with The Norwegian Radio orchestra conducted by Ari Rasilainen, and as soloist with the Norwegian Radio Orchestra in “Snøfall” by Henrik Skram.

Knoph is also increasingly active as a composer. Particularly his choral music has been frequently performed in recent years. His work HOPE - A new Ceremony of Carols celebrated its premiere in December 2021 followed by performances in Oslo and Bergen in December 2022. Since 2005 Joachim Knoph has been composing music for film and TV. In 2009, he joined forces with Magnus Murel under the label “Norwegian Sounds” composing music for more than 60 films, including five feature films, several TV series and major commercial campaigns for some of the largest companies in Norway, e. g. music for the Norwegian-US-American series “Lilyhammer” and the Norwegian comedy series “Dag”.

Knoph is a graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music, the Barratt Due Institute of Music, the Malmö Academy of Music, L´Ecole Normale de Musique "Alfred Cortot", Paris, as well as the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He received his education from Einar Steen-Nøkleberg, Jirí Hlìnka, Nelson Delle-Vigne Fabbri, Caroline Palmer, and widened his expertise in masterclasses with Philippe Entremont, Jerome Lowenthal and Staffan Scheja.

Photo: Åsa Maria Mikkelsen