Geir Draugsvoll is considered one of the most important accordionists of the last decades. He is also regarded as a pioneer on the accordion and he has premiered a large number of works from numerous contemporary composers.
He is one of the most sought-after accordion teachers in the world and, since 1995, he has been the Professor of Accordion at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is also regularly invited as a guest professor at the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, Music Academy Sarajevo, the Lithuanian Academy of Music, and Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst, in Graz, Germany.
During the last decades, Geir Draugsvoll has made a remarkable career, both as soloist and chamber musician, promoting the accordion with Symphony Orchestras, and collaborating with composers such as Anatolijus Senderovas, Staffan Mossenmark, Bent Lorentzen, Martin Lohse, and Sofia Gubaidulina, whose Concerto for Accordion and Orchestra “Fachwerk”, today widely known as one of her most important works, is dedicated to him.
He has performed as a soloist all over the world in festivals and concert-halls such as the Concertgebouw (The Netherlands), Alte Oper Frankfurt (Germany), Barbican Hall (London), Mariinsky Hall (St. Petersburg), Gasteig (Munich), Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory (Russia), Gewandhaus Leipzig (Germany), Philharmonie Luxembourg, Lockenhaus Festival (Austria), Edinburgh Festival (Scotland), Rheingau Festival (Germany), Mittelfest (Italy), Konzerthaus (Berlin), Musikhalle (Hamburg), Bergen International Festival (Norway), CCB (Lisbon), NGA (Washington), Zellerbach Hall (Berkeley), and many others.
As soloist with orchestra, he has performed with London Symphony Orchestra, Münchener Philharmonic, Mariinsky Orchestra, Staatskapelle Dresden, Russian National Orchestra, Maggio Musicale Firenze, Norwegian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Kremerata Baltica, Moscow Soloists, Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, Trondheim Soloists, Stuttgarter Kammerorchester, Münchener Kammerorchester, and collaborates frequently with conductors like Valery Gergiev, Donald Runnicles, Vasily Petrenko, Andres Mustonen, Omar Meir Wellber, Eva Ollikainen, Clemens Schuldt, David Geringas, Joana Carneiro, Marc Soustrot, Alexander Mayer, Yuri Bashmet, and many others.
Furthermore, he has released around 25 CD’s on important labels such as EMI, BIS, Naxos and Simax, among many more.