Background and experience
Jørn Eivind Schau is a full time Professor of Flute and Head of Music Performance Programs at the Department of Classical Music, University of Agder (UiA, Kristiansand). He also teaches at the University of Stavanger – Faculty of Performing Arts (UiS). Previously, he has held flute teaching positions at the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Academy of Music in Poznan, Poland, the University of Tromsø (UiT) and the University of Trondheim (NTNU). Prior to entering his UiA position at the beginning of the 2000, he had played with a variety of Norwegian orchestras and professional ensembles. He played regularly with the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra until 2011.
Schau is a frequent guest at International festivals and flute conventions. As a flutist and University master-clinician he has visited Sweden, Denmark, Finland, England, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Albania, Italy, Turkey, Estonia, France, Portugal, Armenia, Russia, China and USA. He regularly gives courses for the Patrick Gallois Flute Studio (Poland) and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flöte (Germany) and has published articles, book-chapters and forewords to publications at Edition Svitzer (Denmark), Ars Nova (Poland) and Musikkforlaget (Norway). Being an experienced adjudicator, he has served as member of jury-panels for several International competitions, such as: The French National Flute Competition, Nice, France 2010; Second International Flute Competition in Izmir, Turkey 2012; European Flute Ensemble Competition, Freiburg, Germany 2013; International Flute Ensemble Competition, Monaco 2014; Maxence Larrieu International Flute Competition, France (for the European Prize) 2015, 2019, 2024; the Gnessin International Flute Competition in Moscow, Russia, 2020; the 1st International E. Towarnicki Flute Competition, Poland in 2020 and the Ferdinand W. Neess International Flute Competition, Germany 2022 and 2024.
Jørn Schau´s special interest for the flute ensemble format and music for multiple flutes has led to numerous workshops in Europe and the US, and close collaboration with composers to expand the flute ensemble repertoire. The discography includes work-dedications by Trygve Madsen, Hans Magne Græsvold, Konrad Øhrn and Terje Mathisen; Baroque concertos by Bach, Händel and Vivaldi; transcriptions of music from the Renaissance by Palestrina, Prætorius, Gesualdo and Monteverdi, and standard modern flute ensemble repertoire by ao. composers Andrew Downes and Charles Threatte. He has been the Artistic Director of the Norwegian Flute Ensemble since 2008 and conducted the Flute Ensemble of Lodz, Poland (2017 and 2019). He was the Chief Conductor of the German Flute Orchestra (2016-2017) and the European Flute Ensemble since 2016. The latter he co-founded together with flutist Dr. Prof. Ewa Murawska, with whom he has had an artistic and academic partnership for over a decade.
Schau led the initiative to form the Norwegian Flute Society in 2009 and became the society’s first chair. In 2015 he was among the founders of European Flute Council (EFC) – a Pan European consortium for developing artistic and educational flute projects across Europe. He was the Artistic Director of the Norwegian Flute Festival 2011-2015. As EFC co-chair he was on the board of directors for the European Flute Festival (2021) and the European Flute Ensemble Event (2019).
Jørn Eivind Schau was awarded the University of Agder Education Prize in 2014. He was announced as Honorary Member of the Norwegian Flute Society in 2025.
He is a Sankyo Flute Artist, Sankyo International, Tokyo, Japan.
http://sankyoflutes.com/sankyo-artists/jørn-eivind-schau
http://jp.sankyoflute.com/player/jorn.html