Trent is a pianist from Canwood, Saskatchewan, Canada who now lives in Valestrand on the island of Osterøy, in the Western Norwegian province of Hordaland. Trent is one of North America's most sought after fiddle accompanists. Trent's piano and guitar playing skills can be heard on the albums of 38 well known fiddlers from Canada, the United States and Norway.
Trent began his musical involvement at age 12 with piano lessons and guitar coaching at age 15. He holds degrees in elementary music education and elementary classroom education from the University of Saskatchewan, majoring in piano. Trent has taught piano and guitar accompaniment both in private lessons and workshops at fiddle and music camps since 1990. He regularly accompanies many top fiddle players on their tours, is much sought after as a house accompanist at fiddle contests throughout Canada (including Canada’s national fiddle championship, the Canadian Grand Masters), and has worked extensively as an accompanist on many albums. Trent is also active as a recording artist and composer.
OLAV TVEITANE - DOUBLE BASS, GUITAR, CITERN, VOCALS
Olav has worked as a part-time freelance musician since 1979, mostly in Norwegian traditional folk music scene, but has also been active in classical, jazz and other music genres. Olav has toured and performed in many festivals in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Gambia, Lebanon, and most recently in southern British Columbia. Many of his festival appearances with various acts have been broadcast on radio and television in these countries.
Olav is active as a session musician on various albums in the Bergen area and also performs with Bergen based folk music groups Spindel and Tørvikbygd.
From 1981 to 1995, Olav was a concert coordinator for the Norwegian concert agency Rikskonsertene, which included preschool, grade school, institutional and evening concert programs. From 1989 to 1991, Olav worked full time with local folk music groups in the Sogn og Fjordane region of Western Norway. His responsibilities included performances and music lessons throughout this region as well as working with touring musicians and cultural festivals inside and outside Norway.
Since fall 2002, Olav has been working as a music teacher at Fana Folkehøgskule, a Bergen boarding college where he coordinates the school’s folk music studies program, which includes studies in traditional Norwegian and international folk music. Olav holds a Bachleor of Musicology degree from Århus Univeristy (Århus, Denmark, 1985), a certificate in instrumental studies at Det Jyske Musikkkonservatorium in Århus, Denmark (1986-1988) (double bass major, jazz guitar minor), a degree in Instrumental and pedagogical studies at the Bergen Høgskolen as a music major (earlier known as the Bergen Conservatory) from 1993-1995, and a Masters degree in ethnomusicology from the University of Bergen (Norway, 2008).
ANNIKA WESTGÅRD - HARDANGER FIDDLE, VOCALS
Annika has performed in three tour productions with musicians throughout the world and worked with Ethno, an international folk music camp for youth, both through Swedish talent agency Rikskonserter. She has an array of performance credits as a soloist and with other musicians.
Annika has been active as a music teacher giving private lessons in piano and hardanger fiddle, has choral experience as director of the Vang Girls Choir (Norway) and has worked as a music teacher at Fana Folkehøgskole in Bergen, Norway. She holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Hamar Teachers College in Hamar, Norway (2006) and holds a certificate from Fana Folkehøgskole (boarding college in Bergen, Norway) taking their folk music program, majoring in Norwegian and international folk music studies (2003). In preparation for her advanced education, she was a student in the Norwegian high school system as a Grade 13 student at Skien High School (Skien, Norway, 2001-2002 - music program) and from Grades 11-12 at Valle High School (Valle, Norway, 1999-2001, music program with a focus on folk music).
KEVIN HENDERSON - FIDDLE
Kevin is a fiddler from Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, but now resides in Kragerø, Norway with fellow bandmate Annika Westgård. Kevin is a member of various performance groups including “Fiddlers Bid” (Shetland), “Session A9” (Scotland), and took over for the legendary Aly Bain in the famous Celtic supergroup “Boys of the Lough” in March 2002. Kevin has taught at various festivals and workshops and was invited to be a judge for the semi-finals of the “BBC Scottish Young Musician of the Year” competition in 2005.
In 2007, the coordinator of the Colombi Egg Folk Music Club in Bergen, Norway, Gabriel Fliflet, approached fellow Bergen musician Olav Tveitane and asked him to form a group for a future performance for this folk music concert series during the spring 2008 season. It was then that Olav approached Canadian-born pianist Trent Bruner, Shetland fiddler Kevin Henderson and Kragerø hardanger fidder and vocalist Annika Westgård about playing at this folk music club for their bi-weekly concert series. All three musicians accepted Olav's invitation, and after rehearsals that took place between January and April 2008, this group played their first concert together at Bergen's Colombi Egg concert series April 28, 2008.
It was also where Gabriel gave these performers a group name so they could share a common identity. Because Norway, the Shetland Islands of the U.K. and Canada are all located in the northern hemisphere and had coasts along the Atlantic Ocean, the name for the group was an easy one. Hence, the name North Atlantic was chosen.
This group was shortly invited to perform at a Norwegian folk music festival in June 2008 called Haukeliseterfestivalen in Norway's Haukeli region between Bergen and Oslo. The response was positive from all in attendance, leading the group to seriously consider future plans for public appearances, touring and recording their first CD.
Each of the four musicians in this group come from varied musical backgrounds, but these musicians have embraced these varied musical differences to create a musical blend that is attractive to the ear while at the same time showcasing the variety in their musical backgrounds that brings out this sound. The members look forward to sharing this sound with future audiences.
