Ola Asdahl Rokkones

Ola Asdahl Rokkones (b. 1983) lives in Tromsø, Northern Norway, and is one of few saxophonists working at a professional level within the fields of both classical music and jazz. His discography is growing and includes twelve releases of various genres, such as the albums Arctic Saxophone (LWC1263) with Arktisk Filharmoni, Trio Brax (LWC1248) with Julia Neher and Sergej Osadchuk, Man in the Sea (FBCD246) with Treskatresk, Zwei-Mann-Orchester (FBCD242) with Mean Steel, and Norwegian Saxophone (LWC1162) with Fabio Mastrangelo and the St. Petersburg Northern Sinfonia.

As a classical musician, he has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras in Norway, Russia, Germany and France, among them Arktisk Filharmoni, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mariinsky Symphonic Orchestra. He has commissioned and premiered music by numerous composers, such as Anders Torgunrud Røshol, Alexander Aarøen, Alexander Manotskov, Terje Bjørklund, Agnes Ida Pettersen, Tine Surel Lange, Herborg Rundberg, Rakel Nystabakk, Helge Iberg, Kjell Habbestad, Martin Romberg, Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, Erik Stifjell, Lars Skoglund, Håvard Lund, Bodvar Drotninghaug Moe, and Bjørn Breimo.

As a jazz- and ensemble musician he is highly profiled through several groups, such as Mean Steel, Trio Brax, Marit Sandvik & Nova Onda, Treskatresk, Mike del Ferro Quintet, and Magyar Hot Club. In 2010 he was selected as the Norwegian representative to the prestigious European Jazz Orchestra. Since 2020 he has been the musical director of the project Fargespill in Tromsø, and he has also worked with dance and theatre ensembles, such as the choreographers Silje Solheim Johnsen and Gerd Kaisa Vorren, as well as the theatre group Ferske Scener.

With various constellations he has toured internationally, and performed in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Romania, Turkey, and Brazil.

He has studied with several acclaimed teachers including Lars Lien, Vibeke Breian, Jean-Yves Fourmeau and John-Pål Inderberg. In 2012 he received the Culture prize of Tromsø Municipality, and in 2018 he was the laureate of the artist grant of the Tromsø region. In 2019 he was selected as one of the four recipients of the Barents Scholarship “for valuable and outstanding contribution to the cultural life and cooperation across borders in the Barents Region”. In 2022 he was awarded an artist grant from the Ingerid, Synnøve og Elias Fegerstens foundation.

Photo credit: Carl Christian Lein Størmer