THE VIOLINIST AND HIS YOUTH
Johannes Leonard Rusten was born on April 11, 1984 on Heimdal, a small suburb to Trondheim, Norway. At the age of two, Johannes already showed an affinity for music and two years later he started taking violin lessons. He was very fond of all kinds of music, especially classical music, and much of this because his father had been a viola player. Johannes said: "I still remember the day my father walked towards me and told me I was going to take part in a violin teaching class with other four-year-olds. I met three other children on my age that also wanted to play violin, but they stopped some years later. I always played on my violin, even my fathers viola sometimes. What I remember the most of my youth, is when the other people who played in a string quartet with my father came to practise at our house. Brahms, I can still hear the themes though I haven't heard them for a long time. My parents always brought me to concerts, chambermusic concerts and symphonic concerts, I just loved all the music. These years have been the most influential in my life, this period I also started loving filmmusic. When I was 6 years, or maybe 7, my sisters took me to see [Land Before Time], and I still remember that as an very emotional happening - and some years later when I first saw [Braveheart] along with [Jurassic Park], I understood that filmmusic was my true passion."
At the age of 7 he started playing violin with professor Bjarne Fiskum wich he followed the next 7 years until he began studying with Sveinung Lillebjerka. "When I started studying violin with Sveinung, I was 14 years old. He was like a God, a fantastic violinist and person. He played in a group called [Tango Concertino], they played tango, most of them by Astor Piazzolla, and from that period of my life I was drawn into this tango-gypsy-thing - and partly because of that I now feel a certain attraction to the latin american culture along with the hungarian/rumanian music and culture."
He also did play in a great quartet, called the [Spring String Quartet], inspired after playing the Norwegian composer Bertil Palmar Johansen's piece for string quartet: "On a Spring String". With him in the quartet, he played with Jon Mehus, Fredrik Sjolin and Oystein Torp. They took part in competitions that were held in the Netherlands and Sweden. The spring of 2000 they were on a tour in Germany, where they held a concert in an old castle. They received fantastic comments after their concert, especially after playing Edvard Griegs string quartet in g minor, without sheets.
THE COMPOSER, ARRANGER AND ORCHESTRATOR
Johannes founded his own jazz-quintet in 2000 called [LOOP], where he wrote and arranged all the music. Along with other guys on his age they formed music with a blend of folkmusic, progressive rock, 80's and classical music. After a while they split up and that was when Johannes started composing for real. "My mother found some sheets with my first compositions allready when I was 5 years old. I had written a piece for my first violin teacher, Marie Elise Baatnes. And from that time I used to sit in front of the speakers with sheets and just trying to write down what I could. But my first major discovery was when I got my hands on a couple of scores by [John Williams]. I studied them up and down, back and forth, trying to find similarities. I was about 14-15 at that time. I bought all the soundtracks of [John Williams] I could find, and also all the music I could find on paper. He is the most influential composer for me, along with [James Newton Howard], [Miklos Rozsa], [Don Davis] and these guys. You know! -
[Edward Shearmur]'s "Count of Monte Cristo" really opened my eyes when that came out. That was of course several years, soundtracks and composers later. From [Jerry Goldsmith] to [Howard Shore]. [Michael Kamen] to [James Horner], [Hans Zimmer] to [Elliot Goldenthal]. I bought it all, I listened to them all, closing my eyes and dreamt that some day I would be joining them."
Started his first symphony: [A Viking Saga] in 2002, written for large orchestra, in memory of the man who helped Johannes with the ideas and support, filmmusic-composer [Michael Kamen]. "It all started when I found Michael's web page and a discussion table that said 'Ask Michael'. And it was then I started talking to him about my ideas of writing something after I heard the Robin Hood-soundtrack. He was very pleased and very sympatic towards me, he helped my with some ideas and we talked along the whole writing process. Unluckily he passed away one day, and it felt like the whole world fell. So I wrote the rest of the symphony and got it done, and I dedicated it in the loving memory of Michael Kamen - the man who inspired me to write the piece.
Thanks to the Viking Saga things started to happend. Three orchestras performed it in 2003 and 2004, and that was when it all began. People started calling, asking me to write music, and one day in desember 2004, one of my friends; Ole Andreas - a very good photographer, called me and asked if I would write the music to a short film they did at the school. And suddenly the director called me 6 months later and told me he had a major filmproject, and that is what I'm currently working on."
RECENT AND CURRENTLY
Johannes has also been playing in the world famous string-orchestra called [Trondheim Soloists], which he toured with, along with Deutsche Grammophone's recording of one of the leading violinists in the world, [Anne-Sophie Mutter]. He's been playing in the TrondheimSoloists since he was 13 years old, and the next project, is a huge string-orchestra-piece of Johannes' great friend, [Jon Lord] - former keyboardist of [Deep Purple].
Recently came back from Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paolo, a tour with another Norwegian string-orchestra, [Oslo Camerata], that made a huge impression on him. Playing in the 'favelas' (some kind of ghetto, for very poor people), helping the young children to play and giving them opportunity to play with the Norwegian musician. "That really got in to me"!
Besides beeing the concertmaster of [The Norwegian National Youth Orchestra], Johannes has been playing with great artists and conductors, some to mention: Mischa Maysky, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Jon Lord, Leif-Ove Andsnes, Arve Tellefsen, Andrey Boreyko, Rolf Gupta, Truls Mørk, Øystein Birkeland, Hans Kristian Ljos-Sørensen, Solveig Kringlebotn, Randi Stene, Atle Sponberg, Miller Anderson, Ole Kristian Ruud, Christian von Gehren, Eivind Aadland, Joseph Swendsen, Joseph Caballe-Domenech, Roby Lakatos Ensemble, Herborg Kråkevik, Sissel Kyrkjebø, not to mention his good friend, Bjørn Eidsvåg.
Along with many great projects, Johannes is currently working with Norways best-selling artist: singer, songwriter and great friend, Bjørn Eidsvåg. Besides touring with Eidsvåg, Johannes arrangea music for the Bergen Philharmonic, finishing compositions which has been ordered, and plays with [Bodø Sinfonietta], a third ensemble he regulary plays with, leaded by his former violin teacher Sveinung Lillebjerka - he is also working on a huge movie. The work title for the movie is currently [Skumringslandet], (Land of Nightfall / Land of Twilight), and their official webpage is: www.skumringslandet.com.
"My biggest hope is that one day, I'll get the chance to meet John Williams, James Newton Howard, Don Davis or Alan Silvestri - get to meet them, learn from them, and maybe even work with them." Johs
"...Johannes- his work is an inspiration to me to continue and write more and I will." - Michael Kamen, 2003(X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon ++)
