Håkon Magnar Skogstad: 24 Variations for piano

About the concert

In this lecture-recital, award-winning pianist Håkon Magnar Skogstad presents music from his latest album, 24 Variations for Piano. The work is inspired by classical forms and draws impulses from well-known composers from Frits Thaulow’s era, such as Debussy, Ravel, Grieg, Liszt, Mussorgsky, and Rachmaninoff, as well as earlier composers like Chopin and Bach.

Skogstad combines these influences with inspiration from Argentine tango style and Astor Piazzolla. The result is a unique work that continues the fusion of musical impulses also found in Debussy’s music.

Skogstad’s lecture-recital grows out of his doctoral research project, in which he recreated the romantic–impressionist playing style of the Catalan-Spanish pianist Ricardo Viñes—the pianist who premiered Debussy’s and Ravel’s piano music in Paris around 1900.
This lecture-recital offers a rare opportunity to experience this vibrant legacy associated with, among others, Thaulow and Debussy.

About the artist

Håkon Magnar Skogstad is an award-winning pianist and composer with formal training in classical performance from Oslo and New York. In 2022, he completed a PhD in artistic research at NTNU in Trondheim.
Skogstad has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Norway, the USA, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Austria, and Sweden. He has composed several large-scale commissioned works, and his tango-inspired album Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra received the 2021 Spellemann Award in the classical music category.

Practical information
Date: 23 August 2026
Time: 14:00
Venue: The Thaulow exhibition at Permanenten
Price: NOK 290 / 250 / 100