Oystein Sevâg

Øystein Sevåg entered the world in Norway in 1957 and would later establish himself as a New Age composer and keyboardist who first took up piano studies at age five. In his teenage years he handled bass duties in a rock group before reconnecting with classical traditions through studies in piano, flute and composition at the Music Conservatory of Oslo. During the 1980s he grew captivated by emerging synthesizer technology and channeled that interest into electronic music on his independently released 1989 debut LP Close Your Eyes and See. Five years of studio labor produced an album that gradually climbed Billboard’s New Age charts and earned Sevåg a contract with the Windham Hill label for the 1993 follow-up Link. Two years afterward came Global House, which revealed his growing attraction to acoustic textures and worldbeat elements, while Visual, a joint effort with guitarist Lakki Patey, appeared in 1996. After signing with the Hearts of Space label he returned in 1997 with the acclaimed Bridge.