News

Mastering (the space between) Function and Freedom

From 5–7 May, the University of Agder and CreaTeME hosted Guitar Maestro T.E.A.R.S. 2026 in Kristiansand, gathering 24 guitar teachers and 6 students from higher music education across the Nordic and Baltic region, Austria and the United States. Across three days of teaching demonstrations, open discussion and a student panel, one ambition ran through everything: to bring guitar teachers out of their separate studios and into a shared conversation about how, and why, we teach.

The chamber music festival at UiA is organized as a series of chamber music concerts which form a integral part of every classical music students’ semester plan. However, since my first year, I have considered that this period could offer more than performance opportunities alone.

Music student Einar Måløy has created UiA’s new audio identity – a set of distinctive sound clips that will accompany the university across all channels and platforms.

Saxophonist, composer and music professor Bendik Hofseth has been appointed Knight First Class of the Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav. He receives the honour for his significant contribution to Norwegian and international musical life over several decades.

Starting from the Fall semester 2026, the master’s programme in Music Business & Management - one of the five specialisations at the Popular Music master’s degree - will shift to a new, hybrid study format, combining online lectures with intensive on-campus sessions several times a year. This new study format provides students with greater flexibility to access and follow the programme, as well as the opportunity to pursue a master’s degree while working.

Prof.  Dr.  Eckart Altenmüller visited Department of Classical Music and Education 24.-26.February with his interactive workshop "On Making Music." The workshop explore physiology, practice strategies, and injury prevention. 

“As systems become more advanced, knowing how to think like a musician becomes ever more essential,” says Andreas Waaler Røshol.

From autumn 2026, music professor Jan Bang returns to the University of Agder (UiA) in a central teaching role. He will lead and further develop the Master's Degree in Electronic Music at the Department of Popular Music.

UiA’s Honorary Doctor in the Arts contributes to an exciting programme for the creative academic week in Kristiansand.

A veteran of innovative physical theatre and now an emerging force in contemporary playwriting, Ida Fugli of the Department of Visual Arts and Drama at the Faculty of Fine Arts has enjoyed a standout year in 2025.

“You need to immerse yourself in the music, but it’s good to know a bit about it beforehand.”

When artificial intelligence began to change the market for translators, Elin Lillebø (51) decided to learn more about the technology – and about music.

In October, the Faculty of Arts had an exciting and timely visit from Palestine through the unique collaborative project Sound of History.

Psychodrama makes artistic processes a part of public health work.

CreaTeME Creative Synergies 2025 brings together leading experts, students and professionals from across Europe to explore how music education can meet new challenges.

Singing brings joy and a sense of community. Research shows that we need it, yet singing is losing its place in our daily lives. 

Musicians have little to fear from artificial intelligence, even if some types of jobs disappear. The most important thing is to protect the craft believes researcher Steinar Jeffs.

What the words of a song lyric say and what the voice tells you can often be two different things.

Teachers and students at UiA have collaborated with European colleagues to highlight new ways of teaching classical music performance. Some of the findings have been published in a new collection of articles. 

There has been a surge in interest in art history following the opening of Kunstsilo. UiA now offers a continuing education course that includes artworks from Kunstsilo in its syllabus.

For over 20 years, the lunch concerts and their audience have provided a professional and safe stage for the classical music students. The autumn season starts on Wednesday 11 September.

Singing together in daily life can improve life for those with dementia, as well as for their family and friends.

Vikas Thakur embraces diversity and sustainability as the new dean of engineering and science at the University of Agder. Here are all the new faculty leaders at UiA.

UiA's new Centre for Excellence in Education has a plan for promoting the creative use of technologies in higher music education and moving the field of music forward.

Heidi Kukkonen has studied the mediation of abstract art to children. She believes that adults have a lot to learn from the way children perceive and interact with art.