Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa

Sigbjørn Bernhoft Osa (3 May 1910 – 2 February 1990) was a Norwegian fiddler and traditional folk musician. He was one of the best known Norwegian performers of folk music in the 1900s.

Personal life Osa was born in Ulvik Municipality in Hardanger as the son of fiddler and painter Lars Osa and children's writer Hermine Bernhoft-Osa. He spent his first years in Valle Municipality in Setesdal, and moved to Voss Municipality when he was six years old. He was married to Kersti Alice Grambo from 1937, and to Anne Heggtveit from 1950. He was the father of actress Liv Bernhoft Osa (b. 1957). He died in Voss in 1990. He started playing on the radio with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in the 1940s and recorded more than 350 traditional airs on either hardingfele or violin between 1948 and 1978. His airs were often based on the Voss tradition from elder fiddlers such as Sjur Helgeland, Ola Mosafinn or his own father. He often toured in Norway, Europe and the United States with concerts or causeries. He also received the Spellemannprisen Honorary Prize in 1973.

Selected works Hardingfela (1952) textbook Spelmannsliv (1979) autobiography (with Jostein Mæland)