KJELL HABBESTAD (b. 1955) is Professor of Music Theory and Composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo, of which he is a graduate in church music and composition. His catalog of works includes 97 opuses including dramatic works (operas, oratorios), orchestral works, solo instrument concertos, chamber works for various combinations of instruments, works for organ and piano, and a large number choral works.

Habbestad’s larger works include The Moster Pageant, which has been performed annually in an amphitheater at Moster, Norway (on the island of Bømlo), since 1984; the oratorios One Night on Earth (1983) and Adam and Eve (2008); the operas Hans Egede’s Night (1995) and Nenia— in Memory of Fartein Valen (2014), all with texts by Paal-Helge Haugen. Also worthy of mention are the opera Karlstad 1905 — A Page in the History of Civilization (2016), and the musical The Count of Monte Cristo (2011), both with librettos by the composer.