Wolfgang Plagge

Wolfgang Plagge (born 23 August 1960 in Oslo, Norway by Dutch parents) is a Norwegian composer and pianist.

Plagge started playing the piano as four years old, and made a sensational recital debut in the University Hall in Oslo, only twelve years old. He also started composing at an early age, had his first work published aged twelve, and is particularly renowned for his works for wind instruments. Despite a rheumatic disorder Plagge often occurs as pianist and has played with several leading orchestras. He has received several awards for his musical work. He has been performing as a soloist with a large number of orchestras in and outside of Norway, and has worked with internationally renowned artists like Ole Edvard Antonsen, Jens Harald Bratlie, Aleksandr Dmitriyev, Philippe Entremont, Lutz Herbig, Piotr Janowski, Evgeni Koroliov, Solveig Kringlebotn, Truls Mørk, Robert Oppenheimer, Robert Rønnes, Leif Segerstam, Randi Stene, Roberto Szidon, Lars Anders Tomter and Frøydis Ree Wekre.

Plagge has since he was 8 years been organist and eventually Cantor in Asker and Bærum congregation of The Catholic Church in Stabekk, Norway. He has a significant number of musical contribution to the Catholic hymnbook in Norway, "Lov Herren" (Praise the Lord).

Plagge’s list of works ranges from liturgical music to symphonic works while chamber music and piano solo pieces constitute a main portion of his output. Plagge has also focused on writing for wind instruments and has penned a number of works for woodwinds and brass in chamber settings. 1996 saw Plagge being bestowed with the Composer of the Year Award by the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. In 2001 he received an ASCAP Award and he won the Vocal Nord’s composers competition in 2003.

In 2007 he was the recipient of the Hungarian The international cultural order of knights of St. Stefan which is Hungary's highest civilian honor for his work on promoting Hungarian music and culture in the Nordic countries, as well as his work with the teaching technique of Zoltán Kodály.