BIOGRAPHY

Trygve John cannot remember a time when he was not singing, whether as a boy in Norway or as a young chorister in Godfrey Hewitt’s Cathedral Choir in Ottawa. However, his formal musical education began with studies at Conservatoire de musique et d’arts dramatique du Québec in Hull and Montréal while he was a university student. He followed this with further formal studies in Toronto at the Royal Conservatory of Music with the late Irene Jessner as well as extensive choral and solo performance work.

In Toronto he was a professional member of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. He also served as tenor soloist at St. Ann’s Anglican Church, Knox Presbyterian Church and Timothy Eaton Memorial with Dr. Ouchterloney.

Following completion of his training as a History and Music teacher at University of Toronto, Trygve taught briefly at Royal St. George’s College in Toronto.

He then moved to the United Kingdom where he taught, performed, and completed advanced studies at the Cantica Studio with the renowned duo of Andrew Field and Audrey Langford.

Upon his return to Canada, Trygve shared his love of music with his students, teaching and directing a number of award-winning school choirs and bands, as well as continuing to perform.

Over the years, Trygve has worked with many distinguished musical figures in Canada, including the late Dr. Elmer Iseler, Murray Schafer and Stuart Hamilton. His first love is the concert hall, where he enjoys performing a wide and eclectic repertoire. Trygve has also performed in music theatre and with various operatic and choral organizations over the years.

In 1995, Trygve John released Ae Fond Kiss, a compilation of songs of the British Isles, followed in 2004 by John Ringereide sings Concert Classics.

During this time, Trygve John produced several of his successful shows in Peterborough and elsewhere with his friend and accompanist, Ian C. Morton. He had the privilege of conducting the Peterborough Community Choir for two seasons.

In 2010, Trygve John retired as the “Singing Principal” of the Kawartha Pine Ridge School Board in Ontario.

Trygve then moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, (the “cultural capital of Canada”) in 2011 and spent the next 4 years enjoying being part of the vibrant music scene in Winnipeg as a conductor and performer. He served as the Music Director of Sturgeon Creek United Church during this time. He performed with Dry Cold Productions, Canzona Baroque Choir, Mennonite Festival Chorus, Winnipeg Philharmonic Choir and Manitoba Opera Chorus. In 2015, Trygve was joined by Joanne Kilfoyle; together, they created and performed “Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off”, accompanied by Cary Denby.

Trygve served as the Chair of Choralfest Manitoba and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Manitoba Choral Association from 2013 to 2015.

Trygve remains passionate about education. In Winnipeg, he enjoyed working with teacher candidates as a lecturer at the University of Winnipeg from 2012 to 2015 and as a Faculty Advisor of teacher candidates at the University of Manitoba between 2014 and 2015.

From September 2020 to June 2022, Trygve created and taught courses in the Norwegian language for the International Languages Program of the Ottawa Carleton District School Board. He now enjoys running an informal Norwegian discussion group.

Trygve is a strong advocate and supporter of Nordic heritage and culture. He is a long-term member of the Canadian Nordic Society and is the current President of that historic national organization.

Since returning to Ottawa in late 2015, Trygve has continued to perform.

In December 2016, he performed a Christmas concert at the Royal Norwegian Embassy. In the autumn of 2017, Trygve performed A Salute to Finland, a Celebration of Nordic Music at Southminster United Church as part of their concert series, accompanied by Cecilia Ignatieff. They were joined by cellist Jan Järvlepp,

Following this, they also participated in A Concert of Nordic Favourites in Honour of Finland’s 100th Anniversary at the Unitarian Church in Ottawa. Both concerts were sanctioned officially by Finland 100.

In recent years, Trygve has been delighted to collaborate with Parvaneh Eshghi, a highly accomplished and distinguished accompanist and vocal coach.

In 2019, Trygve and Parvaneh performed Songs of the British Isles at Trinity Anglican Church as part of the Music at Trinity Concert Series.

In December 2020, they performed a virtual Christmas concert in Trygve’s home for the Canadian Nordic Society.

With the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions, Trygve and Parvaneh performed a concert of Neapolitan songs, La Più Bella Musica Italiana, an afternoon of beautiful Classic and Neapolitan songs, on July 16th at the First Unitarian Church in Ottawa.

In September 2022, Trygve and Parv performed a concert of German lieder and Scottish ballads, Lederhosen and Tartan, at St. Bartholomew’s Anglican Church in Ottawa in support of Streetfest, a major charitable event in support of Inuit causes on behalf of the IODE.

In August 2023, Parv and Trygve delighted concertgoers with a performance of their favourite Broadway show tunes, Melodies of Broadway, at the First Unitarian Church in Ottawa.

 This was followed in September by Timeless Tunes of the British Isles, a concert sponsored by the IODE once again as part of Streetfest 2.0, the fund-raising initiative to support Inuit culture and education.

Parvaneh and Trygve are currently preparing for a recital of Nordic songs.