Bjarte Eike

Norwegian violinist Bjarte Eike has been in the forefront of the effort to present classical music in nontraditional venues and styles, and thus to attract new audiences to the music. His efforts have developed on several fronts. As leader of Barokksolistene, he has, in the words of the Financial Times, created an ensemble that "brings the raw rhythms of Scandinavian folk music to...the high baroque." More novel still have been Eike's Alehouse Boys, which do not simply present classical music in alehouses, but seek to re-create a specific historical moment: Oliver Cromwell's C...