Ruben Sverre Gjertsen (Norway 1977) studied composition at the Grieg Academy in Bergen with Morten Eide Pedersen, James Clapperton and followed masterclasses with guest composers like Brian Ferneyhough, Klaus Huber, Salvatore Sciarrino, Philippe Hurel, Luca Franscesconi and Helmut Lachenmann.
His works were performed during five Young Nordic Music festivals, in Helsinki, Aarhus, Oslo, Stockholm and Helsinki again. James Clapperton and Sharleen Harshenin commissioned “Miniatures III”, and performed it in Bergen, Reykjavik and Helsinki. The piece “Rituals III” for 59 musicians was developed during the Nordic Composers Workshop with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (2001-2002) conducted by Zsolt Nagy.
Twice participating at Voix Nouvelles at Royaumont. 2000 with Brian Ferneyhough, Jean-Luc Hervé and José Evangelista, which included a performance of the work “Contradiction” for Nouvel Ensemble Modern. And once more in 2008 with Brian Ferneyhough, Jérôme Combier and Xavier Dayer. His work “Landschaft” was here performed by Ensemble Vortex and Neue Vocalsolisten. Ensemble Vortex and the festival Archipel commissioned a new work, which was performed in Geneva 2009.
In the season 2002-2003, Ensemble Intercontemporain performed the pieces “Contradiction” and “Miniatures II”. “Rituals II” was selected for ISCM 2004 in Switzerland. Pierre Boulez and Lucerne Festival Academy commissioned the new piece “Circles”, which was premiered during the Lucerne Festival 2006.
The release “Grains” at +3dB records received the norwegian grammy Spellemannsprisen for 2009 in the category contemporary composer. He received the Arne Nordheim Prize in 2010. The collaboration with Bit 20 continued with release of the CD “Gamelan Terrains”.
As a research fellow under the Norwegian Artistic Research Fellowship Programme (2010-2013), he completed the project “Between instrument and everyday sound” 2014. Song Circus, Oslo Sinfonietta and Notam performed the final project, with a spatial setup surrounding the audience. A version for singers and electronics was recorded by 2L under the title “Anatomy of Sound” and was nominated for Spellemannsprisen 2015. He is currently working as associate professor in composition at the Grieg Academy (2015-2017), involved in the research project “Wheels within wheels”, where composers and Ensemble Currentes share a common starting point in late medieval repertoire.

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