Blog

Tampa, Florida was unforgettable

Tue, 2016-11-08 14:02

Many thanks to the wonderful Siri Rock and her Hadeland mafia from Norway who made sure I will never forget one of my most wonderful concert experiences abroad in so many ways. Your hospitality, Siri, is mindblowing. I felt like home. And performing in a venue from the 20´s was absolutely perfect for the soul of a composer. Also - that crowd you got together? PLEASE bring them to ALL my concerts!
And folks - THIS is how you spend your time before and after concerts!! (Siri, you sure as h*** know how to make musicians pumped up!!)
Met the neighbour, Mr. Swan - a 3 bronze medal Vietnam War veteran...who gave me my first (INSANE) flying lesson...!!!!!
 And yes, the after party!!!
 I will be back! PS you coming??

Almost take off

Mon, 2016-10-24 21:33

Had 150 people at my gallery on Tuesday! THAT, I guess, is what you can called PACKED :D I am always amazed of how this place seems to be so flexible for every different occation :D And in between the pieces I take "lofting" to a WHOLE new level, haha!
Wednesday I performed at Voksenåsen with THIS view next to the piano.....!!
And then came Thursday, "double trouble" with a home court advantage! First at the get together at Café de Concert exhibiting paintings by Isabelle Reilo Riis and putting music to them, then at The Thief Hotel!
Oh, got a pretty good review the other day also from a concert in Holmestrand!!
DURACELL-KANIN PÅ ANABOLE STEROIDER
Dynamitt-anmeldelse fra Jarlsberg Avis i Holmestrand om konserten i Y Kirken forrige torsdag!
Her er noen highlights fra anmeldelsen (skrevet av Lars Ivar Hordnes) It sure made my day!!
- Verbalt fyrverkeri
- Både tilbakeholden og energisk musikalitet
- Teknisk imponerende klaverspill
- Språkøre av de sjeldne, bortimot perfekte aksenter på henholdsvis engelsk, kinesisk, russisk og fransk
- Aksel Kolstad leverte varene
- Mannen må være et geni
 This weekend I did two performances in Trondheim during the Nothern European Art Gymnastics Championships, was awsome!
And now, off to Tampa, Florida! EXCITED!! Stay TUNED!

In the paint

Wed, 2016-10-12 23:23


Veldig stas å nylig bli signert av Plan B som en av 38 suverene artister i norsk underholdning! Check it OUT!! Her gjør jeg en photoshoot med den fabelaktike Kilian Munch for bilder til presentasjonen for Plan B. And DUDE, have you seen my new Floating Penthouse?!?!? (You can rent it, and I can play for you on it!)

German Die Zeit stopped by (in the toilet of course) for an interview the other day, and OH - New York Times did also!!
How very inspiring to see that The New York Times has mentioned me as one of the musicians worldwide that has made an impact on how to present classical music in a new way to reach out to a larger audience. By the way, do listen to my newest sonata for piano solo, would love to hear what you think about it!


Spiller i Holmestrand i morgen kl 19:00!! Håper se deg der hvis du typ bor der :D

Blir stadig stødigere med mobilkameraet ned i okularet, gleder meg til å stille ut bilder av månen siste torsdagen i november på Café de Concert! Setter så klart musikk til, kom kom!!

Ellers ser ting ut til å gå DRITbra! Ofte.

Og ja - profesjonell linselus! Peace out. PS: Kommer du på torsdag til uka?

Game is back on!

Fri, 2016-08-19 15:43


3 x 75 minutter Kolstad-dynamitt nylig detonert fra scenen på Hjertens Kulturhus med konsertforedraget "Dare to be different" i starten av uken. For et fantastisk publikum! Det er meg det kommer an på, stå støtt med begge beina godt planta og tørr og vær annerledes, folkens! 

Så bar det til Stavanger dagen etterpå med konsertforedrag for Stavanger Kulturskoles top notch lærere, stas for meg å spille for dem!

Hvem kommer på torsdag på Café de Concert? :)

Kolstad newsflash

Thu, 2016-08-11 11:28

Ble en fin promo-sommer i år:)

2 x NRK Sommeråpent, artikler i Aftenposten, Bergens Tidene, Stavanger Aftenblad, Fedrelandsvennen og Adressa både på papir og på nett! (Mette Bugge, det der var helt insane!!!)
Stay tuned for more Kolstad spam :D

NRK Sommeråpent 20 juli
NRK SOmmeråpent 6 august

Aftenposten nettavis
Bergens Tidene nettavis
Stavanger Aftenblad nettavis
Fædrelandsvennen nettavis
Adressa nettavis

Vacation needed!!

Thu, 2016-07-07 00:14


After concerts in Valdres during Valdres Sommersymfoni...
...and a concert in Stavanger....

...an unforgettable concert with Norway´s oldest ballet dancer, Grete Brunvoll....

....6 concerts in Valdres actually....

...a concert in the Hardingtonar Festival in Norheimsund...

....actually two concerts - one in the house of the legendary Geirr Tveitt...

....a little challenge to bring out my inner viking during "Tough Viking" in Oslo....

....a TV interview and a newspaper interview (stay tuned in the end of July)....

...two concerts during Miniøya festival in Oslo...

....and a great time with Adidas (CEO´s from Europe)...

...I guess a little vacation after a hectic June can´t come any sooner! C ya on the other side :)

Fashion Preludes

Mon, 2016-05-30 12:41

Yeah...Coco Chanel and Igor Starvinskij - I hope you are enjoying this :) Had a wonderful fashion event at Café de Concert two days ago. Playing how the models looked like, was great fun:) Of course I had to invite some of the models to the toilet.....

I never complained about beeing short.....

SUPende mai & Riga

Fri, 2016-05-20 15:02

For the third year in a row my stand up paddle parade on Norway´s national day, May 17th, made it on pretty much all Snap stories in Oslo, haha! What a wonderful gang of friendly pirates on the waters of Tjuvholmen. 19 SUPer Aquamen and women cheering, singing, waiving their flags and taking a whole bunch of selfies. Gratulerer med dagen!! See you next year, surfers! Mahalo! Photo: Glenn Kristiansen / Hege Paulsen


"17 mai-frokosten" (breakfast) startet at 09:00, SUP parade started at 11:00 and at noon I changed into a different moods of norway suit and jumped on a plane to Riga! Photo: Norwegian Chamber of Commerce in Latvia

Russeknute, Holmenkollenstafetten og surfebungalow

Mon, 2016-05-16 12:46

Det var over 100 jublende som så på i kanalen på Tjuvholmen da russeknuten *Padleåra* gikk av stabelen. Som Idrett uten alkohol ambassadør serverte jeg Coca Cola på glassflaske og pølser i lompe (Øivind Karlsen-pølser fra Fredrikstad - så klart) til russen fra Edvard Munch vgs, som ble med på en annerledes og alkoholfri russeknute!Vinneren gav alt i SUP konkurransen, falt uti et par ganger (stort showmanship) - men vant. Viktig å presentere alkoholfrie og annerledes russeknuter for russen!
Photo: Zelda Lyseng Storvik​/Café de Concert

7. mai kunne man se den lille tasmanske jævelen tok Goliat på oppløpssida på 1200 meter "blodsmak i kjeften-stafett" i går!  Idrett uten alkohol ble søren dundre meg nr. 2 av 22 i sin klasse for ideelle organisasjoner. Kanonløp på alle! Suveren andre etappe av Arne Olav Wagenius​! Men hvor var dere NRK da Idrett uten alkohol hadde tidenes SUP stafett på Tjuvholmen etterpå (med minst like mange delaktige tilskuere som på Bislett)?[?]  #priceless For en gjeng! Takk til Andreas Aune Viken for avgjørende tekniske tips om "løping for little people": Fly som faen du bare, Aksel! Photo: Hilde Marcela Barene Rivera / Idrett uten alkohol

Etter Holmenkollenstafetten ble det så klart enda en stafett utenfor Café de Concert etterfulgt av fæst med Idrett uten Alkohol-gjengen!

I morgen er det SUPende mai, tipper du ser oss florere på alles snap, insta og facebook + + ;) Rett etter SUP-toget fra Café de Concert kaster jeg meg på flytoget (fra det ene toget til det andre...) for å rekke et fly til Riga, spiller festkonsert der samme kveld! Bånn gass og hipp hurra!! Og når det er sagt transformeres Café de Concert sakte men sikkert til en surfebungalow nå som juni/juli banker på døra. Sees på havet :)

Fire in the hole

Sat, 2016-04-23 18:20

Fire in the hole! Been busy the last couple of months! Off to Riga soon to perform on May 17th! Between concerts I have also been doing much of this lately! Working together on stage with Monument, a kick ass live band, and also with the one and only DJ Finson! Check it out :) Performing at Café de Concert on April 28th, you coming? Champagne and hot dogs on me!

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