Although the scenario of a shared name might appear to suggest competing interests (and indeed there was resistance to a full merger proposed in the 1990s), several instructors have taught music concurrently at both institutions, and some signs of a healthy partnership have been evident between musicians and programs at these two schools which have rather different emphases.
[10] According to the history explained in Norwegian on the Grieg Academy-UiB's official website, “towards the end of the 1980s, the conservatory faced major restructuring, and a government report recommended closer cooperation with the University of Bergen.
Notable music Professors and Lecturers at HiB include Thorolf Krüger (educational theorist), David G. Hebert (sociomusicologist), Tiri Bergesen Schei (choral conductor and music phenomenologist), Catharina Christophersen (educational researcher), Jostein Stalheim[19] (composer), and Egil Haugland (guitarist and guitar maker).
Notable alumni of the HiB Griegakademiet at Landås include renowned brass band conductor and arranger Tom Brevik,[20] Opera Bergen producer and director Anne Randine Øverby,[21] choral conductor Per Oddvar Hildre,[22] award-winning jazz pianist Dag Arnesen,[23] and several of Norway's most renowned songwriters and rock musicians, such as the leaders of Kaizers Orchestra and Odd Nordstoga, and the school is often given some credit for the recent “Bergen Wave" of popular music.
[24] Professional opera singers to have come from the HiB/HVL music department, before seeking additional training in Norway and abroad, include Lise Davidsen[25] and Ingvild Schultze-Florey.
In 2019, a Full Professor, Njål Vindenes (guitarist), resigned in protest (with much media attention) as the music programs continued to be radically downsized, worsened by a merger and restructure, to become less than half their original size.
[36] According to its website, “Grieg Academy, Bergen University College has exchange agreements with educational institutions in Denmark, Portugal, Spain, Iceland, Sweden, Finland, England, Germany, USA, Australia, Greece and Austria.”[37]