Bjørn Ole Rasch (born 28 July 1959) is a Norwegian artist (keyboards performer), composer, arranger and producer. He is a professor of popular music at the Agder University College. With his wife, Annbjørg Lien, he runs the Kongshavn Studios in Kristiansand.[1]
Rasch was born in Elverum and raised in Kristiansand. He began playing the piano at seven and learned much piano technique from his mother. He was taught classical music for eight years before he bought his first synthesizer and became more interested in composing and arranging. 19 years old, he composed music for a theater performance of the folktale "Manndottera og kjerringdottera", and he continued to compose music for the theater some years after this, among others 3 ballets and two more theater plays among them the first performance of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit in Norway.
In 1981 he joined the prog rock band "Boys Voice", which comprised fellow students from Agder MusikkonservatoriuminKristiansand. The band released the single 20 Golden Lies in 1984, before they released their album Talking to the Moon the year after.[2]
At the same time, he was a member of the jazz group EtCetera from Molde that also released an album in 1985.
Most of his musical productions are at the intersection of Norwegian traditional folk music and world music. His work includes major productions and compositions for theater, ballet, movies cd productions and TV, and most of these have been released worldwide. In 2002, Rasch was appointed the first professor of Rhythmic music in Norway, and in 2003 he became a member of Agder Academy of Sciences. Rasch has worked with Annbjørg Lien as producer, arranger and composer since 1994, and since 1997 he has been a member of the traditional folk ensemble Bukkene Bruse. In 2009 Bjørn Ole Rasch og Annbjørg Lien released their first duo-album under the name Come Home frå 2009.[3] Most of their releases together is a blend of Norwegian folk music and elements from world-music.
Rasch was appointed Official Olympic Musician in 1993 for the Lillehammer Olympics, which resulted in a long collaboration with the artist Sissel Kyrkjebø. I 1999, Rasch as member of the Bukkene Bruse group was awarded the Prøysen Prize. In 1994 he was a member of the group Secret Garden as arranger and musician, a collaboration that in 2011 had resulted in record sales of nearly 4.5 million. In 1995 he received triple platinum for his work as arranger and musician on "Innerst i sjelen" with Sissel Kyrkjebø at Universal Records, and in 2009 he received Golden record both in Norway and Sweden for his production "Spellemann" at Grappa Records and in 2010 for the production "Julenatt" at EMI Records.
In 1999, Rasch was ambassador for the charity Save the Children together with Bukkene Bruse, and in 2005 he composed the music for the international film Valo and the musical Emma together with his wife Annbjørg Lien. In 2010 he authored the music book Analog Syntese (Analog Synthesis) on his own imprint. He has worked as an arranger and musician for artists like Randy Crawford, The Chieftains, Keith Emerson, Trilok Gurtu, Mahsa Vahdat, Hanne Boel, José Carreras, Sinéad O'Connor, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Lisa Nilsson, Kirsten Bråten Berg, Hallvard T. Bjørgum, Sondre Bratland, Jahn Teigen, Elisabeth Andreassen, Sigvart Dagsland, to mention some. Present (2013) he focuses his work around the concepts Bukkene Bruse, Secret Garden and Annbjørg Lien, besides working as a composer, producer, arranger, writer and lecturer on the rhythmic music and history.
2002: Music & Art in a Box Annbjørg Lien/Bjørn Ole Rasch with artists Nico Widerberg, Ørnulf Opdahl, Tone Svaland Holberg og Per Fronth (Grappa/BIZ Records)
