Biography

“In a time when the noise of humanity increasingly drowns out the music of the living world, while simultaneously threatening the ecological foundations of our own existence, examining every aspect of our interaction with the external world seems to be of grave importance. At the core of my work as both musician and composer is an ambitious and ever-present curiosity about sound and a deep fascination with the conscious act of listening. This manifests itself in an exploratory approach to sound itself, examining different ways of experiencing music and how we, as human beings, interact with music and the wider sonic environment.”

- Sigurd Hole, June 2026

Hole grew up in the small village of Åkre in Rendalen, Norway, where music was an important part of everyday life. He began playing the violin at the age of six before turning to the double bass at thirteen. After completing a master’s degree in jazz, improvised music, and composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo in 2008, he became an active contributor to the Norwegian music scene. He performed with jazz ensembles such as Tord Gustavsen Trio, Jon Eberson Group, and Eple Trio, while also engaging deeply with Norwegian folk music through collaborations with Karl Seglem and Eli Storbekken. Alongside his performing career, he taught at the Norwegian Academy of Music from 2007 to 2019. As a composer and arranger, he has written music for a wide range of ensembles, from intimate chamber groups to major orchestras such as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra (KORK).

Following a hectic decade of extensive international touring and numerous album releases, Hole chose to refocus his artistic practice and return to the core of his musical interests: exploring the rich timbral spectrum of the double bass—from delicate harmonics in the instrument’s highest register to its deep, resonant low tones. The discoveries made through this work would shape much of his subsequent output, becoming a defining thread in both his solo and ensemble projects.

His exploration of the double bass became the foundation for a series of acclaimed works, including both solo and ensemble recordings. The first of these was Elvesang (2018), a solo double bass album recorded in an old wooden church in Rendalen. The album received widespread international acclaim and introduced Hole’s distinctive sonic world to audiences around the world. The same year also saw the release of Encounters, a trio album with Jarle Vespestad and Håkon Aase.

In 2020, Hole released Lys/Mørke, a double album for solo double bass recorded outdoors on the Arctic islands of Fleinvær in Northern Norway. Spanning almost eighty minutes, the work further developed his exploration of the instrument’s sonic possibilities and the relationship between music and place. The album was premiered at Carnegie Hall in New York and appeared on several year-end critics’ lists, including DownBeat’s “Top Rated Albums of 2020” alongside recordings by Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, and others.

Released in February 2022, Roraima reflects themes of solidarity and ecological vulnerability. Inspired by the creation myth of the Yanomami people and the soundscape of the Amazon rainforest, the work combines composed and improvised music with field recordings from the Amazon rainforest by soundscape ecologist Bernie Krause, and recordings of the Yanomami people by sound artist Stephen Vitiello. Originally commissioned by the Oslo World Festival, the project brought together an ensemble featuring Trygve Seim, Frode Haltli, Helga Myhr, Tanja Orning, Håkon Aase, and Per Oddvar Johansen. In 2022, the album received the prestigious German Record Critics’ Award (Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). In 2025, a chamber orchestra version of Roraima was developed in collaboration with TrondheimSolistene.

Recent years have seen Hole’s artistic practice increasingly engage with visual forms and spatial contexts through graphic scores, sound installations, and process-oriented artistic platforms. Recent musical works include Requiem for a Star – Cosmic Soundscapes of Destruction and Creation for the Cikada String Quartet, inspired by stellar evolution and the cosmic perspective; Extinction Sounds, commissioned by TronTalks in 2023 during Hole’s tenure as Composer in Residence and Festival Profile, written for an ensemble bringing together musicians from the fields of jazz, improvisation, and contemporary music; and Pustøvelse for tre musikere, commissioned by the Nordic Poetry Festival. Together, these projects reflect an ongoing exploration of listening, landscape, ecology, and humanity’s relationship with the living world.

Alongside his work as a composer and performer, Hole curates the long-running morning concert series Morgenkonsert in Oslo and Hamar and leads Laboratory at Sørum Farm—an ongoing platform for artistic research where audiences, musicians, composers, and artists are invited into the development of new works through open sessions, experiments, and artistic dialogue. Across these different formats, listening remains a central thread in his work—both as an artistic practice and a means of engaging with the world around us.