Norway’s Rosendal Chamber Music Festival Director to Step Down

Festival founder Leif Ove Andsnes is stepping down as director but will continue on as artistic advisor 

The Rosendal Chamber Music Festival is celebrating its final edition from August 6–10, 2025, just as its founder Leif Ove Andsnes is stepping down from his role as director. 

Andsnes explains that his decision to depart comes as he looks to reconfigure where he will be spending his time and effort for the future. 

Nonetheless, he will continue in an artistic advisor capacity as the festival plans to create a new summer concert series for 2026, led by current festival director Anna Lena Flatland. 

The festival’s final edition draws inspiration from the surrounding region of Hardanger by celebrating the music of Grieg, Geirr Tveitt (1908-1981), and Knut Vaage (b.1961), who have all had a close connection to the region.

Throughout Andsnes’ tenure, the festival has presented numerous acclaimed artists — featured guest musicians in 2025 will include Yulianna Avdeeva, James Baillieu and Knut Christian Jansson, VC Artists Johan Dalene and Timothy Ridout, Julia Hagen, Opus 13 String Quartet, and more. 

Also an acclaimed pianist, Andsnes was co-artistic director of the Risør Festival of Chamber Music for nearly 20 years, plus served as music director of California’s Ojai Music Festival in 2012.

Among his achievements include being inducted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame, as well as honorary doctorates from the Universities of Bergen and Oslo in Norway and The Juilliard School.

“It is with mixed emotions that I share with you that this year’s festival will be my last,” Andsnes shared on the festival website. “I look back with immense gratitude on a wonderful 10-year period, in which we have explored a wealth of repertoire and musical ideas in Rosendal.

“During the last [decade] I have had the joy of creating programs which I personally wanted to hear performed at the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival, and each year I have felt as excited as a child to share them with our audience,” he added. “Yet running a festival is a year-round endeavor, and each summer has required significant time and effort. My decision to step down whilst Rosendal is still thriving, comes after careful consideration of how I wish to spend my time and energy moving forward. I want to give my sincere thanks to the Kristian Gerhard Jebsen Foundation. They have been an invaluable partner and the festival could never have been the artistic playground it has become without their incredible support.”

“This summer will see the completion of an extraordinary chapter of music-making at Baroniet, and I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Leif Ove Andsnes for all the passion and energy he has invested in making the Rosendal Chamber Music Festival so special,” said Flatland. “In 2026 we will launch a new summer concert series, and I am delighted that Leif Ove has accepted our invitation to be artistic advisor, ensuring that classical music continues to thrive here, in the heart of Hardanger.”