Håkon Kornstad had already enjoyed quite an extensive international career as a jazz saxophonist, with a solo improvisation project, various groups (Wibutee, Kornstad Trio), and collaborations with Ketil Bjørnstad, Anja Garbarek, Paal Nilssen-Love, and Pat Metheny. After releasing multiple Norwegian Grammy-nominated albums, garnering multiple reviews by the New York Times, and receiving praise by various international jazz magazines for his alternative saxophone techniques, he discovered that he had a voice. Kornstad later received a master’s degree from the Norwegian Opera School, and he has since gained a reputation as a full-fledged operatic tenor. Kornstad's new direction, a meeting of jazz and opera, seamlessly blends opera arias and jazz. In a review of his Tenor Battle album, Norway’s biggest newspaper, Aftenposten, wrote, “His project is a musical enrichment for everyone who loves classical music as well as those who like it when musicians yearn for the unknown. There is something magical, almost timeless and yet innovative and challenging in the way they treat these songs.”