[1][3] He has collaborated with other ECM artists, including cellists Svante Henryson and David Darling, drummer Jon Christensen, and guitarist Terje Rypdal.

[3] Bjørnstad subsequently turned towards jazz[5] and rock, in close cooperation with the guitarist Terje Rypdal, bassist Arild Andersen, drummer Jon Christensen and the American cellist David Darling.

Bjørnstad has released discs with a range of artists including Anneli Drecker, Kristin Asbjørnsen, Kari Bremnes, Lill Lindfors, Randi Stene, Lynni Treekrem, Frøydis Armand, the Stavangerensemblet, Anders Wyller, Per Vollestad and Ole Paus.

He is internationally known for his Universal and ECM recordings, including The Sea, duo recordings with David Darling and Terje Rypdal, Grace, with Anneli Drecker, Bendik Hofseth and Trilok Gurtu, Floating with bassist Palle Danielsson and percussionist Marilyn Mazur, which went to the top of the jazz charts in Germany, solo triple album Rainbow Sessions and The Light, with Randi Stene and Lars Anders Land.

As a pianist he has toured all over the world, and visited jazz festivals including those in Montreal, Shanghai, Taipei, Rome, Nancy, Frankfurt, Leipzig, London, Molde and Kongsberg.

[9] Among his other literary works are the critically acclaimed[1] Villa Europa and the Victor-Alveberg trilogy, which consists of the novels Drift, Dream of the Sea and Road to Dhaka .

In Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the critic Klaus Birnstiel wrote that The Immortals was "a great novel, not easy to forget".

The book received unison praise by Norwegian critics, and is sold to Suhrkamp/Insel in Germany On ECM, Bjørnstad has released the albums Life in Leipzig, Remembrance, Night Song, Vindings Music and La Notte.

The albums Soloppgang/Sunrise (text by Edvard Munch) and A Passion for John Donne are written for choir and soloists, as well as Sanger om tilhørighet, where Bjørnstad continue his collaboration with the Norwegian singer and saxophone player Håkon Kornstad.

(Guri Hjeltnes) In recent years, as a musician, Bjørnstad has released a number of solo piano albums, Shimmering and Images from 2015, but also The World I Used To Know (Grappa 2019), recorded in Abbey Road's famous Studio 2 in London.

The album was launched at the same time as two sold-out concerts in The Norwegian Opera, which marked Bjørnstad's fiftieth anniversary as a musician.

The same year, Grappa released Hun som kjenner tristheten ved ting with Eva Bjerga Haugen, based on lyrics by Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold.