Espen Lilleslåtten

Associate Professor of Violin

---

 

Biography

Espen Lilleslåtten is currently associate professor of violin at Louisiana State University. Previously he served for fifteen years as concertmaster of the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and is currently concertmaster of the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra. During the summers, he is an artist faculty member at the Aspen Music Festival and School, where he is also principal second violin of the Aspen Chamber Symphony.

He has recently been invited as guest associate concertmaster of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra with Marin Alsop, and has performed with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra as associate principal violist with Klaus Mäkelä, recording Sibelius Symphony No.1 and Kodaly Danses from Galanta.

As a soloist, he has appeared with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and given recitals at the Bergen International Festival. He premiered the Concerto of Psalms for two violins and orchestra by Dinos Constantinides at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall, and at a recital in Carnegie Hall.

Mr.Lilleslåtten is also an active chamber player. The Amarillo String Quartet, consisting of the string principals of the Amarillo Symphony, has been actively engaged in music education in schools in west Texas spreading enthusiasm for music. For years, Espen was a violinist with the Logos String Quartet, which was based at LSU. He spent two semesters and several summers as a guest artist at the Banff Center for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. Among the artists with whom he has performed chamber music are the Harrington String Quartet, the Aspen Trio, the Pacifica String Quartet, Stafen Jackiw, Isaac Stern, Menahem Pressler, Sylvia Rosenberg, Bonnie Hampton, Natalia Gutman, Lynn Harrell, Joshua Bell, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg and Joel Krosnick.

Mr.Lilleslåtten began studying the violin at age five with his father, a violist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. After receiving his Bachelor of Music degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, Mr. Lilleslåtten continued his studies in the U.S., earning his Master of Music degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music as a student of Camilla Wicks, as well as an artist diploma in chamber music and violin performance with Ian Swensen at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.