Arve Tellefsen

In February 1984 he participated in an emergency evacuation on an SAS flight that ended up in the water off of JFK airport. Although instructed to leave their possessions, he refused to abandon his priceless Guarneri violin as they evacuated onto an inflatable raft. The evacuees had to paddle away from the airliner with their bare hands, and due to the lack of oars there arose several suggestions (though mostly in jest) to use the precious instrument as a replacement thereof.

When he was 6 years old, Tellefsen began playing the violin in 'Trondheims musikkskole' (the music school in Trondheim). In 1955, he began his studies at The Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen. In 1959, he had his debut in Universitetets Aula, Oslo.

Arve Tellefsen (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɑ̂ɾʋə ˈtɛ̂lːəfsn̩]) (born 14 December 1936) is a Norwegian violinist who has worked with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Arvid Jansons, Herbert Blomstedt, Gary Bertini, Evgeny Svetlanov, Bryden Thomson, Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Berglund, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Walter Weller and Zubin Mehta. In the UK, he has appeared with the Royal Philharmonic, the London Philharmonic, The Hallé, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Welsh Orchestra, the Liverpool Philharmonic and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra.

Tellefsen founded the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, which takes place annually and attracts the cream of international artists, including Anne Sofie von Otter, Randi Stene, Solveig Kringlebotn, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Barbara Hendricks, Liv Ullmann, Jan Garbarek, Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Angela Hewitt, Hagen Quartet, Hilliard Ensemble, Jordi Savall, Rolf Lislevand and Maria João Pires. He has also recently recorded Edvard Grieg: Complete Violin Sonatas with pianist Håvard Gimse at Grieg's home, Troldhaugen. His latest recording is music by the famous Norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull (1810-1880)