Main instrument/ Principle: Guitar
Other instruments: Bass
Genres of music: Folk Music, Classic Music, Rock, Rythm & Blues, Jazz, Lathin, Country Music, world music.

Field of Specialty

Can instruct bands, or any group of Instruments , and help the group fullfill their own ideas and help them sound great together.

Music education and Background

Frank Kvinge is a Norwegian guitarist who moved to Chicago from Norway in 1989 after completing his music education in LA.
He was accepted with open arms amongst the cities most talented musicians. Frank has had the privilege to perform with some of the music legends that we have heard playing with Charlie Parker, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and others.
Bobby Robert's, Chicago's #1 guitarist at this time (1989), liked Frank and his guitar playing style. Bobby helped Frank get into the same orchestra that Frank Sinatra had used when he was performing. With this opportunity, he was able to play with Bob Hope, Patti Page and others. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Frank didn't have a work permit, his working opportunities soon ended for him.

Solo Guitar, Edvard Grieg Ponaca Jazz Records (2007)

In 1990, Frank established his own jazz band and began touring in and around the Chicago area.
Over the years, Frank has performed around 500 blues gigs with Son Seals, Otis Clay and many others. For a period of time, he also played country music in country bars, 4 sets per evening, 5 days a week. Frank received recognition in the Nashville magazines for playing country music as well as anyone else did in Nashville. To add to this, he also played with different rock bands, which included members from "Smashing Pumpkins" and "Styx".In 1994, Frank realized playing with the top headliners was not really where the money was and the money was not going into his own pockets. He adventured out and got in contact with an R & B band with members from "The Pat Metheny Band" and "Survivor". They played the big festivals and stadiums in and around the Chicago area. Finally, these performances and events is how Frank achieved his rewards for all his hard work. This is what made it possible for him to find time to work on his own arrangements and songs.
In 2002, Frank moved back home to Norway.Since his return to Norway, Frank has released Small Stories (2006), Solo Guitar with the music of Grieg (2007) on the Ponca Jazz label, 3 CD's for the Losen Records, Artic Skyway (2011) and Wild Birds, in collaboration with singer Synnøve Rognllien (2012) and Gaucho Batuta (2012).
All Frank Kvinge's CD's are self composed/arranged and are distributed in over 10 countries.

"Wild Birds", his latest CD, was well received in Germany, Be-Ne-Lux countries and all his records have received 5 stars in Norwegian papers. His music is often played on Norway's main radio stations in different categories as well as TV-background music for film. During Grieg's 100 year anniversary in 2007, Frank's CD "Grieg Solo Guitar" was NRK (Norway's main TV channel) main topic throughout the event.

In 2011, Frank arranged and played a part of an opera at the famous event "Oscarsborg Operaen" outside Drøbak, Norway.
During the summer of 2012, Frank will be performing at Italy's largest Jazz festival before coming to the U.S.A. Once he arrives in the U.S.A. he will perform concerts in Chicago and New York City at "The Norwegian Seamen's Church" located in Manhattan on August 11th. The organization and responsibility for this event is MAYA's Norwegian School of Performing Arts.
Frank will teach guitar at MAYA's Norwegian Summer School of Performing Arts at The Norwegian Seamen's Church from August 6th - 16th. For several years, Frank had previously been a teacher at MAYA's Norwegian School of Performing Arts in Oslo, Norway. His students in Norway have done remarkably well. They have achieved top spots in the country finals such as " Ungdommens kulturmønstring (UKM) ", MGP Jr. and they have become fine guitar players (of all styles).

With Norwegian music in focus, Guitar students in New York can look forward to great teachings.

Frank teaches at MAYA´s Norwegian School of performing Arts in:

• Guitar
• Electric Guitar
• Band instruction