Bjørg Værnes Lewis is one of Norway's most renowned cellists. When Rostropovich heard her play, he invited her to study with him, stating that "Norway need not fear for its musical future when the country has a cellist like Bjørg".

She has collaborated with musicians such as Leif Ove Andsnes, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Paul Lewis, Elisabeth Batiashvilli, Truls Mørk, Steven Isserlis, Martin Frost and the Nash Ensemble. She has been a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic conducted by Mariss Jansons and with orchestras throughout Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany and the Baltics.

Bjørg is a founding member of the Vertavo String Quartet, which has won numerous awards, including three prizes at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, 1st prize at the Nordic Chamber Music Competition and the prestigious Grieg Prize in 2005. Their recordings include all of Bartok's string quartets as well as quartets by Schumann, Brahms, Beethoven, Grieg, Debussy and Nielsen. Several of the recordings have received Diapason d'Or and Scandinavian gramophone awards. Their latest release for LAWO includes quartets by Verdi and Sibelius. The quartet celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2024.

A busy concert schedule takes Bjørg through Europe, North America and Japan. In the UK, she has performed at festivals in Edinburgh, Bath and The Proms, and she also plays regularly at Wigmore Hall with the Vertavo Quartet, The Nash Ensemble, and with her husband, pianist Paul Lewis.

After 15 years as artistic director of the Elverum Festival, Bjørg started the Vertavo Festival in 2016. She regularly participates in many other international chamber music festivals and last season she was a guest at both the Aldeburgh and Cheltenham festivals in England. In 2009, she and her husband founded the new festival Midsummer Music, an international chamber music festival in England that has established itself as one of the leading festivals in its genre.

The Dextra Musica Foundation has generously placed at her disposal the instrument on which she plays, a Gennaro Gagliani cello from 1748, whose previous owner was Martin Lovett of the Amadeus Quartet.