Eivind Ringstad is one of Norway's foremost violists. Full stop. At 17, he won NRK's Virtuos competition and later took first prize at Eurovision Young Musicians, the first Norwegian ever to do so. Today he is Principal Viola of the London Symphony Orchestra and Professor at the Royal College of Music. A career most 31-year-olds can only dream of.

But it's not the titles that make Eivind special. It's the way he embraces his beloved instrument, often a bit overlooked in the grand orchestral context. The viola isn't something you choose because you weren't good enough at violin. It's an instrument with its own soul. Eivind reminds us why the viola is always present in the most iconic chamber music works.

He has performed with Janine Jansen, Steven Isserlis, and Leif Ove Andsnes, and co-directs his own Norsjø Chamber Music Festival in Telemark.

Now he's coming to Risør. We can't wait, and we know you can't either.