Composer and pianist. He performed with an international career, living in London 1920-30 after studies amongst others with his mother, the famous Norwegian composer Agathe Backer-Grøndahl, and in Berlin with Robert Kahn, Ernst von Dohnányi and Philipp Scharwenka. In 1942 he refused the order of Edvard Sylou-Creutz, pianist and head of the music department of the National Radio, to join the official NS-musicians’ association, so that Sylou-Creutz called for a ban against him and Jan Wølner, Robert Riefing, Amalie Christie, Rolf Størseth and Kari Glaser to perform in the University Hall, Oslo’s most important concert hall.
