Grieg Academy

The Grieg Academy (Norwegian: Griegakademiet) is a name shared by music programs spread across two higher education institutions in Bergen, Norway. One prominent institution, which until recently has referred to itself in English as the "Grieg Institute" (or "Griegakademiet - Institutt for musikk" in Norwegian) is the music conservatory in Bergen, and a department of the University of Bergen (UiB). However, Norway's oldest music degree program, and the institution that has for the longest been called "Griegakademiet" in Norwegian - and "Grieg Academy" in English - is the music education department now incorporated into Bergen University College (HiB). "Griegakademiet" has appeared for many years in official documents and on street signs for all entrances as well as hallways to the music department of HiB, which is the largest music education program in Norway (with alumni of over 1000 music teachers), offering bachelor's and master's degrees and teacher certification. HiB is also the "Grieg Academy" that in 2002 hosted one of the world's largest music education conferences. The UiB music department, in contrast to the HiB music department, used to be called the "Bergen Conservatory," and now has a slightly larger number of full-time music faculty, emphasizes elite performance studies rather than music teacher education, and is more centrally-located in downtown Bergen.