Romsås Janitsjar (RJ) is one of the biggest orchestras in Oslo. Counting around 60 musicians, RJ is a highly skilled and quality-driven amateur orchestra in the Norwegian tradition – at its best. We have a very simple philosophy: we want to give our audience an entertaining and thoroughly enjoyable experience. Through the past 30 years RJ has attained a status as one of Oslo’s cultural flagships, and we have a long tradition of grand concerts together with singers, musicians and dancers.

Our activities the past few years
In 2005 the Icelandic jazz-funk band Mezzoforte visited Oslo. In collaboration with RJ two concerts were held, with the title Symphony in Funk – one of them in a crowded Rockefeller Music Hall, and the other one outdoors before a huge audience in the centre of Oslo. The following year we were the first Norwegian band ever to be invited to Europe’s biggest wind music festival, Mid Europe in Austria, where we had a high-profile concert on the festival’s main night.

In 2008 RJ entered the stage on Rockefeller Music Hall once again, this time with a bundle of Norway’s top musicians: Julie Dahle Ågaard (vocals), Anders Aarum (keyboard), Stein Bull-Hansen (guitar) and Joeri Hommerson (bass). The latter is among the world’s leading bass players and has collaborated with musicians like Toto’s Steve Lukather, Paul McCartney’s percussionist Denny Seiwell and Michael Jackson’s keyboard player Chris Curell.

In between these projects we have had concerts with Elg from the Norwegian band Dance with a Stranger (2004) and the Danish jazz singer Majken Christiansen (2008).

Our conductor
RJ’s conductor Bjørn Morten Kjærnes is Norway’s most played composer and arranger. He took over in 2001 and has led us to several musical peaks. A large part of our repertoire is arranged by Mr Kjærnes.

Plans and hopes for the coming years
RJ’s goal is to maintain our position among Norway’s best entertainment orchestras, and we are constantly seeking new challenges and musical partners. We want to develop ourselves and our genre further through collaboration with both Norwegian and international professionals. Important keywords are innovation and creativity. RJ is always working to break down the traditional boarders between music styles. Our concerts should take RJ, our guests and the audience to new peaks by creating a new unity of our own sound as an orchestra and the sound of the guest artists. This is done by writing new arrangements adapted for us an orchestra together with the artists – based on their original music.

Romsås Janitsjar – contact information
Roger S. Baardseng, President
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