THE NORWEGIAN WIND ENSEMBLE is regarded as an orchestra for the whole of the Østfold region in south-eastern Norway, and holds a unique place in the cultural milieu of the area. It is the only civil ensemble of its kind in Norway – comprised of 24 of the country's foremost professional musicians. The ensemble's high level of quality and creativity attracts guest conductors and soloists from all over the world. The ensemble is based in Halden, and with a history dating back to 1734, is the oldest continuously operating orchestra in Norway.
Over the course of many years, The Norwegian Wind Ensemble has evolved from being a military band to becoming a genre-crossing orchestra that delivers the highest quality in all styles, though with a particular focus on being innovative in the areas of Early Music and Real-time music.
As the oldest orchestra in Norway, The Norwegian Wind Ensemble chooses to immerse itself in historical performance practices, focusing on the time period from the Renaissance to Viennese Classicalism. The combination of authentic and modern instruments gives the ensemble a unique sonic profile which adds a freshness to well-known works from this period.
The Norwegian Wind Ensemble has in recent years paved the way, both domestically and internationally, for a new musical expression with improvisation as a core element – always using classical music as the framework. Real-time music is music created live in the moment, here and now, and which can never be repeated. Their commitment to this outlook has led to the ensemble's great success on the German concert scene.
In addition to these two main focus areas, the ensemble performs several concerts with a range of different styles every year – everything from opera to family concerts and other types of light productions. The Norwegian Wind Ensemble is also the main orchestra for Opera Østfold's performances at the Fredriksten Fortress in Halden, and they also go on tour for Den kulturelle skolesekken, a national professional arts and culture initiative for school children.
The ensemble regularly records albums that document their artistic platform, especially within their main areas of creative focus. These include Messiah – with the BBC singers (2016), The Mission (2014), The Brass From Utopia – A Frank Zappa Tribute (2013) and several Oscar Borg productions.

Formed in 1996, the six-voice a cappella group Nordic Voices is comprised of graduates from the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Norwegian Academy of Opera who, in addition to their singing backgrounds, have a broad range of experience from choral conducting to teacher training and composition.
Already from the start it was an aim to explore the possibilities within the human voice and to make composers write more demanding and exciting music for vocal ensembles. The singers are classical trained, they are familiar with different extended vocal techniques, and always challenge themselves to expand their expressions. Their close work together with a wide range of composers have led to more than 70 world premieres. Nordic Voices master a wide spectrum of musical styles, ranging from folk music and renaissance music to new works commissioned by composers from all over the world.
In concert, Nordic Voices often presents programme concepts revolving around themes, for example, historical figures or textual links, bringing the music to life in sometimes unexpected ways.
Artistic creativity, communication, versatility, technical precision are the primary ingredients of the perfect recipe for a performing arts ensemble, and these are precisely the elements that make up Nordic Voices. The group has been making waves not only in Norway and Europe, but in places as far afield as South Africa, Japan, Bolivia as well as frequent tours to the USA and Canada.
Nordic Voices are: Tone Elisabeth Braaten (soprano), Ingrid Hanken (soprano), Ebba Rydh (mezzo-soprano), Per Kristian Amundrød (tenor), Frank Havrøy (baritone/tenor), and Rolf Magne Asser (bass).

Mark Bennett won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music, London, where he studied with Michael Laird. Whilst there he was awarded the Royal College Brass prize and also became interested in the natural trumpet and baroque performance practice. Since then he has been involved in many different types of music making, including playing principal trumpet with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Between 1990 and 2000, Mark was a professor at the Royal Collage of Music, teaching both modern and baroque trumpet. He has performed and toured extensively with many period instrument orchestras and ensembles, including the English Concert, London Brass and Baroque Brass of London, as well as the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment and The English Baroque Soloists. He has worked with some of the world's leading conductors, including Esa Pekka Salonen, Claus Tennstedt, Franz Bruggen, Sir Roger Norrington, William Christie, Ton Koopman Iona Brown, Christopher Hogwood, Sir Simon Rattle, Philippe Herreweghe, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner Mark played lead trumpet in the West-End production of Cats for the last 2 years of its London run, and has also played on over one hundred feature films, including Shakespeare in Love and Stargate.
Mark has made many solo recordings on both the modern and the baroque trumpets. These include concertos by Haydn, Fasch, Vivaldi and Telemann, all with Trevor Pinnock and The English Concert for Deutsche Gramophone archive. He has recorded 2 solo recordings with the Purcell Quartet: A Purcell collection and Biber’s Sonatae Tam Aris Quam Audis Sevientes. Mark has recorded Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto seven times: the first time when with Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields he was just 21, and subsequently with enembles including the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Hanover Band and the Chamber Orchestra of Europe. For ten years Mark was a member of London Brass, where he recorded many solo brass pieces. Including works by Marini, Gabrieli and Purcell.
In the last ten years Mark has built a fruitful relationship with Norway, working with the Norwegian Baroque Orchestra, the Oslo Baroque Orchestra and as soloist with Terje Tønnesen and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. He has also appeared in the Oslo Chamber Music Festival playing Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto. Conducting has also become a more important part of his musical life, with invidations to lead Orchestras and wind bands in Norway such as NRK Radio Orchestra, MiN Ensemble, Den Norske Blaseensemblet and Kongelige Norske Marinenes Musikkorps amongst others.