Trond H.F. Kverno (b.1945, Oslo) received his degree in church music from the Oslo Conservatory of Music in 1967. The following year, he received a degree in music theory and choir direction. He was ordained deacon of music in 1975 and has served as an organist in a number of churches in Oslo and elsewhere.



After beginning his teaching career at the Oslo Conservatory of Music in 1971, Kverno transferred to the Norwegian State Academy of Music in 1973, the year of its founding, where he has been a prominent figure in the teaching of music theory. Since 1978, he has been senior lecturer in church music and composition theory. He has been particularly involved in the more creative, performance-oriented aspects of the latter, focusing on liturgical organ playing, improvisation, and composition for use in church services. Since the introduction of a graduate program in church music at the Academy in 1983, he has also taught within the fields of liturgiology and hymnody. In 1994, he was appointed professor in church music, with church music composition as his main subject.

Kverno has gained national recognition in the latter field. He was a member of the liturgical commission (1976-1978) appointed to reform the liturgical books of the Church of Norway. He has drawn on his experience from the commission in the fields of composition and practical liturgy in positions connected to the Oslo Cathedral and Gamle Aker Church, Oslo. Norsk Høymesse 1977 (The Norwegian Morning Service) includes several melodies composed by Kverno in its general series.

The liturgical commission was also responsible for laying the groundwork for Norsk Salmebok (Norwegian Hymn Book), written in 1983. Kverno finds it especially challenging to compose for gatherings with no particular musical expertise, and regards every melody included in a songbook or hymnal as a small triumph. In this respect he has a good deal to be proud of: Norsk Salmebok of 1983 includes twenty-seven of his hymns, and his compositions are also to be found in hymnals in Sweden, Finland, Denmark, and Germany.