Truls Olaf Otterbech Mørk (born 25 April 1961) is a Norwegian
cellist.
Biography
Mørk was born in
Bergen, Norway to a cellist father, John Fritjof Mørk, and a pianist mother, Turid Otterbech.[1] His mother began teaching him the piano when he was seven. Mørk also played the
violin, but soon switched to the cello, taking lessons from his father.
Mørk's discography includes an award-winning recordings of the Shostakovich Cello Concertos and of Bach's Suites for Solo Cello. He has recorded for such labels as Virgin Classics and harmonia mundi.[3] Mørk's interest in
chamber music led to the foundation of the International Chamber Music Festival of
Stavanger.
In April 2009, Mørk experienced an infection of the
central nervous system, presumably caused by a
tick bite he received in the United States in 2006, with subsequent
encephalitis, and
paralysis in the shoulder muscles of the left arm. In the autumn of 2009, he expressed concern that he might never be able to perform again.[4] After 18 months away from concert activity, during which time he was awarded the 2010 Sibelius Prize,[5] Mørk resumed his career.
Mørk holds a Professorship at the
Norwegian Academy of Music, Oslo. For more than 30 years, he performed on a rare Domenico Montagnana cello (
Venice, 1723), whose scroll was made by
Stradivarius. Norway's
SR-Bank purchased the cello, and loaned it to him. The instrument was recently bought by the Dkfm. Angelika Prokopp Privatstiftung, which now loans it to cellist
Harriet Krijgh.
Honors
1991:
Spellemannprisen in the category Chamber music, together with
Håkon Austbø for the album Verker av Franck, Chausson, Debussy, Poulenc
1993: Spellemannprisen in the category Orchestral music for the album Dvorák; Cello-konsert/Tsjaikovskij: Rokokko-variasjoner, with
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra cond.
Mariss Jansons