Ivar Grydeland

Ivar Grydeland (b. 1976) is Head of Department and Professor of Improvisation at the Norwegian Academy of Music. He teaches improvisation and ensemble performance while supervising students at bachelor's, master's, and PhD levels. Grydeland currently directs the PhD program in Artistic Research (KUST) and serves on the board of the Norwegian Artistic Research School.

His research interests center on improvisation, collaboration, human-machine interaction, music technology, and artistic research. Grydeland has published numerous articles, book chapters, and online expositions in artistic research. Since 2023, he has led a work package in the Centre for Excellence in Creative Use of Technologies in Music Education (CreaTeME) at the University of Agder and previously coordinated the Norwegian Artistic Research Program (2015-2017).

Grydeland's recent publications reveal a strong focus on networked music performance, particularly exploring latency in remote collaboration as a creative element rather than a technical limitation. His work bridges practical artistic creation with theoretical reflection, examining both ensemble and solo improvisation frameworks.

• Nordic Council Music Prize nomination (2015) for album 'Canopée' with ensemble Dans les arbres

Grydeland actively supervises students at all academic levels and has served on assessment committees for PhD candidates. His significant projects include 'RAPP Lab' (2020-2023), 'Goodbye Intuition' (2017-2020), and 'Ensemble & Ensemble of Me' (2011-2016), which examined the relationship between ensemble and solo improvisation. As a performing musician, he is a member of the ensembles Huntsville and Dans les arbres, with whom he has toured internationally for over 25 years.