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Ivar Grydeland

Head of depart­ment and Pro­fess­or

Jazz, Improvised Music and Traditional Nordic Folk Music Department

Contact

Mobile: +4790051098
Phone: +4723367266
E-mail: ivar.grydeland@nmh.no

Office

05005

Field of study

Improvisation

Department and discipline

Jazz and Improvised Music

Photo: Charlotte Wiig

Ivar Grydeland (b. 1976) is a professor in improvisation. He is an experienced educator and musician who teaches improvisation and ensemble performance, as well as supervises students at the bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. levels. He previously served as the program director for the Free Bachelor's Program in Music (FRIBA) and currently leads the Ph.D. program in Artistic Research (KUST). Grydeland is also board member of Norwegian Artistic Research School.

Grydeland has published articles, book chapters, and online expositions on artistic research. Since 2023, he has led a work package in the Centre for Excellence in Creative Use of Technologies in Music Education (CreaTeME) at the University of Agder. He has also worked as the program coordinator for the Norwegian Artistic Research Program (2015–2017) and has served on assessment committees for Ph.D. candidates. Additionally, he has peer-reviewed applications and works submitted to both national and international programs and journals.

His academic interests include improvisation, ensemble performance, human-machine interaction, music technology, and artistic research.

As a performing musician, Grydeland plays electric and acoustic guitar, banjo, pedal steel guitar, and various electronics. He is a member of the ensembles Huntsville (Hubro and Rune Grammofon) and Dans les arbres (ECM, Hubro, SOFA, Aspen Edities) and releases his third solo album in 2025. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with artists and musicians such as Hanne Hukkelberg, Morten Qvenild/Frode Grytten, Jim O’Rourke, Thurston Moore, Nels Cline, Glenn Kotche, and Henry Kaiser.

Grydeland has toured and performed at festivals across Europe, Asia, Australia, North America, and South America over the past 25 years. He has contributed to approximately 40 releases with his main ensembles, projects, and as a guest musician for various artists. The ensemble Dans les arbres was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2015 for their album “Canopée” (ECM 2278).

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Publications

  • Ivar Grydeland - Bøyning, brytning Ivar Grydeland 2025
  • Love Your Latency, September 2024 Ivar Grydeland ,  Michael Francis Duch ,  Jan Bang ,  Torben Snekkestad ,  Lene Grenager ,  Michaela Antalová ,  Michaela Antalová ,  Bjørnar Habbestad ,  Hild Sofie Tafjord 2024
  • Love your Latency – harmonizing from afar Ivar Grydeland ,  Michael Francis Duch 2024
  • Love your Latency and the Glitching Spatiotemporal Condition Ragnhild Brøvig ,  Ivar Grydeland 2024
  • Blikk på øyeblikket – eksempler på ulike arbeidsmetoder hos improviserende musikere Ivar Grydeland 2024
  • Goodbye Intuition Ivar Grydeland ,  Morten Qvenild ,  Sidsel Endresen ,  Andrea Neumann ,  Henrik Frisk ,  David Toop ,  Anna Lindal ,  Lasse Marhaug 2020
  • Dans les arbres - Phosphoresence Ivar Grydeland ,  Xavier Charles ,  Ingar Zach ,  Christian Wallumrød 2017
  • Stop Freeze Wait Eat Ivar Grydeland 2015
  • Ensemble & Ensemble of Me – What I Think About When I Think About Improvisation Ivar Grydeland 2015
  • Dans les arbres – Canopée Ivar Grydeland ,  Xavier Charles ,  Christian Wallumrød ,  Ingar Zach 2012
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Projects Ivar Grydeland participates in