Sagstad leads Norwegians to win the European Championships

Bjørn Sagstad has been Professor of Wind Orchestra Conducting at the Basel University of Music FHNW since September 2021. He graduated from the conservatories in Bergen, Trondheim, Tromsø and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and is Associate Professor of Conducting at the Grieg Academy of Music/UiB in Bergen. He is also course coordinator and mentor for the Maestra program. Maestra is a Norwegian initiative to promote female conductors.

Founded in 1924, the Nidarholm Music Society (Musikkforeningen Nidarholm) has around 75 members between the ages of 18 and 60, consisting of amateurs, music students and professionals. The band has achieved solid placings in the Norwegian national championships over the past ten years. In 2019, it won the Norwegian Janissary Championships, it was able to defend the title in 2022 after two years of very variable and sometimes low activity during the pandemic.