Elias Akselsen

Troubadour Elias Akselsen belongs to the Romani people and is regarded as one of Norway's foremost performers of the national minority's song tradition. He has received a number of awards and appeared in the film Tradra – i går ble jeg tater (2004). The same year Stein Østbø published the biography Deilig er jorden about Akselsen.

His daughter Veronica Akselsen has released solo albums in 2004, 2010 and 2026. Together with her sister Alice Kristine and their father she appeared on the Christmas records Blå juleglede (2012) and Velkommen hjem (2015).

Elias Akselsen and his family were subjected to persecution from both authorities and the church. As a teenager he therefore went to Sweden, where he lived a nomadic life through much of the 1960s and 1970s. There he collaborated among others with the troubadours Cornelis Vreeswijk and Fred Åkerström.

Later Akselsen returned to Norway and began extensive work conveying the Romani people's traditions, among other things through critically acclaimed record recordings.

Elias Akselsen invites you to an atmospheric winter concert at Håkonshallen on Friday 11 December.