Trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth (19) from Oslo has been awarded a Statoil stipend of NOK 250,000 per year for four years.
"We look forward to working together with Ms Helseth and we want to contribute to developing her talent further," says Reidar Gjærum, Statoil's executive vice president for corporate communication (CCOM).
Ms Helseth is one of Norway's most in-demand trumpeters. She began playing as a seven-year-old and won the 2004 national soloist championship of Norway in the no-age-limit open class.
She has won a string of prizes and in May 2006 came second in the Eurovision Young Musicians Contest which took place in front of an audience of 40,000 in the city square in Vienna.
Ms Helseth first represented Statoil at the group's autumn concert in Oslo on 20 November.
Stipends are part of the group's new talent development concept, covering culture, sport, education and humanitarian organisations.
Statoil has had agreements with young classical musicians since 1990, including pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, cellist Truls Mørch and trumpeter Ole Edvard Antonsen.
Musicians who are chosen for a partnership with Statoil must have achieved a certain level nationally and be ready for international career promotion. The agreements will be used by the group for events including concerts for in-house events and client meetings