Philip Kruse

Background

He is the second son of Colonel Erling O. Kruse (b 1922) and Eunice Cooklin (b 1925).

Career

Bendik Singers was a vocal quartet founded by Arne Bendiksen, where the two brothers sang with Anne-Karine Strøm and Ellen Nikolaysen. He has written about 2,000 melodies and texts for artists like Tommy Körberg, Anita Hegerland, Inger Lise Rypdal, Anne-Karine Strøm and George Keller, and has written the music to television serials like Amalies jul, Huset medical det rare i and Puslespill for Norsk Rikskringkasting. He has produced about 300 music records, including Øivind Blunck"s Reidar, Viggo Sandvik"s Fisking i Valdres, Trond-Viggo Torgersen"s Tramp på en smurf and Vidar Sandbeck"s Ballade. As orchestral leader he has contributed to many Norsk Rikskringkasting radio and television productions.

He has been on tour with Bjørn Eidsvåg, Sigmund Groven, Ellen Nikolaysen, Kari-Ann Grønnsund, Frode Thingnæs and Vidar Lønn-Arnesen.

Lately he has led his own bigband, Philip BigBand. worked with Arne Bendiksen"s record company in 1971 to 1979 before he got together with Frode Thingnæs and started Frost Music A/South in 1979. He led this music publishing company until it was sold to Electric and Music Industries in 1999.

He was chairman of GramArt and is the chairman of the main jury of the Edvard price given by TONO and director of the Norsk Musikkfond. In 1997 he received the Oslo City Culture Grant.

Achievements

• They won the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix twice. In addition, Kruse won the Norwegian Melodi Grand Prix three times as a text writer As producer of the album Match with Wenche Hallan and January Høiland, he won the Spellemannprisen in 1976.

Membership

In 2011, he became chairman of the board of NMFF (Norwegian Music Publisher Association) and board member of TONO.