Øyvind Torvund (b. 1976) not only studied at Oslo’s Norwegian Academy of Music and Berlin’s Universität der Künste, but also worked for years as a guitarist in rock and improvising groups. Jazz becomes a point of reference in his Giants of Jazz (1999–2000), where he pays tribute to old masters like Art Blakey, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk. In contrast, Power Art (2002) is reminiscent of the musical feel of hardcore power trios like Black Flag, even if a song by Henry Purcell is the piece’s foundation. Torvund also calls on his players to improvise, with instructions like game rules, leaving open the exact path the works will take. Improvisation also plays a role in a through-composed orchestral work like How Sound Travels (2005–06). The score is based on a guitar improvisation: the feedback, flowing waves, and fluctuating pitch are then transferred to the symphonic apparatus. That How Sounds Travels is reminiscent of the sound color compositions of Giacinto Scelsi and György Ligeti makes it clear that Torvund is also a composer in the emphatic sense of the word. The avant-garde for Torvund is an aesthetic surface for projection from which he develops musical peripheries like ornament and the everyday, nature and popular culture.