Biography

Steinar Eielsen

Steinar Eielsen (26.09.1948) is a composer whose production is closely linked with choirs. From the middle of the 1970’s until 1988 he conducted male, female and mixed choirs in Sandnes, Norway, where he has his residence. He has also conducted various orchestras and instrumental ensembles.

Cultural grants from Sandnes Municipality and Rogaland County have permitted private studies in composition with Knut Nystedt, and this has had a great impact on his work as a composer. Through these studies, and through his many arrangements for all types of choirs, he has developed a thorough knowledge of the choir as a musical medium. Eielsen has also arranged a number of instrumental and orchestral works, and most of his compositions are commissioned for various ensembles from Norway.

Much of his production for choirs has been published by various Norwegian publishing houses, and his experiences are also recorded as contributions to pedagogical textbooks for children and youth. Eielsen worked as a producer for The Norwegian Concert Institute (Rikskonsertene) from 1977 to 1990, with the exception of two years when he worked as a concert director at the Rogaland Music Conservatory.

Since 1991, he has worked on commissions for both compositions and arrangements, as an instructor for various types of choirs throughout the country. He has had engagements at music education institutions, such as the Stavanger College, School of Arts Education — Conservatory of Music, and has had part-time positions as a lecturer at Lundehaugen and Vågen Upper Secondary Schools in Sandnes, at the music, dance, and drama section. From 2015 he is a retiree.

Eielsen has received several prizes, among other things in choral composition competitions. In 2018 he received “Korprisen” from The Norwegian Choral Association and in 2015 he was awarded the King’s Medal of Merit.