Norwegian born violinist, Elise Båtnes is the first concertmaster of the Oslo philharmonic, a post which she has held since 2008. She first played with the Oslo Philharmonic as a soloist when she was 10 years old under the baton of Maestro Mariss Jansons. Prior to Oslo she was first concert master of both WDR Köln and the Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Elise is in great demand as a guest concertmaster all over Europe. Recently including; Chamber Orchestra of Europe, London Symphony Orchestra, Teatro Real Madrid and Philharmonia and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.
Away from orchestra playing, she has won a Norwegian Grammy, a Spellemannprisen for chamber music recordings with the Vertavo String Quartet. She is also 1st prize winner of the Melbourne International Chamber Music competition. Other solo recordings on the LAWO label include Bartók and Prokofiev violin sonates with the pianist Håvard Gimse.
Elise is a professor of violin at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She plays on a Stradivarius violin ‘The Arditti’, dated 1689, generously on lifetime loan from Dextra Musica Norway.