Arve Tellefsen (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈɑ̂ɾʋə ˈtɛ̂lːəfsn̩]) (born 14 December 1936) is a Norwegian violinist who has worked with conductors such as Mariss Jansons, Arvid Jansons, Herbert Blomstedt, Gary Bertini, Evgeny Svetlanov, Bryden Thomson, Neeme Järvi, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Paavo Berglund, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Walter Weller and Zubin Mehta.

[citation needed] Tellefsen founded the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, which takes place annually and attracts the cream of international artists, including Anne Sofie von Otter, Randi Stene, Solveig Kringlebotn, Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz, Barbara Hendricks, Liv Ullmann, Jan Garbarek, Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Yuri Bashmet, Mischa Maisky, Gidon Kremer, Angela Hewitt, Hagen Quartet, Hilliard Ensemble, Jordi Savall, Rolf Lislevand and Maria João Pires.

His latest recording is music by the famous Norwegian violinist and composer Ole Bull (1810–1880)[2][3] In February 1984 he participated in an emergency evacuation on an SAS flight that ended up in the water off of JFK airport.

[4] Although instructed to leave their possessions, he refused to abandon his priceless Guarneri violin as they evacuated onto an inflatable raft.

The evacuees had to paddle away from the airliner with their bare hands, and due to the lack of oars there arose several suggestions (though mostly in jest) to use the instrument as a replacement thereof.