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.

POING started playing together in 1999 and have since been one of the leading ensembles for contemporary music in Scandinavia. They have played in clubs and concert halls in most European countries, the US as well as in China and Japan. Constantly expanding their repertoire, they have played more than 150 first performances and worked closely with composers such as Maja S.K. Ratkje, Bent Sørensen, Terry Riley, Rolf Wallin, Natasha Barrett, Richard Barrett, Michael Finnissy, Volker Heyn and Helmut Oehring.
Their unique flexibility results in many un­traditional commissions that go beyond the usual interpretation, interaction, and dissemination of contemporary music. For their work with contemporary mu­sic, POING were in 2009 awarded “Per­former of the Year” by the Norwegian Society of Composers.
Previous releases by POING includes the CDs Giants of Jazz (2003), Planet POING (2006) and Sur POING (2015), plus the releases Wach auf! (2011) and Kapital & Moral (2016) in collaboration with Maja S.K. Ratkje.
The trio collaborates regularly with musicians from around the world, with backgrounds in different styles – from folk and traditional, via popular music to experimental expressions. Among others, POING have collaborated with Swedish, Swiss, Nepali, Brazilian, Ameri­can, Azerbaijani, Mongolian, Egyptian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Iranian, Mauri­tanian, Ivorian, Tanzanian, Irish, Faroese, Icelandic, Finnish, Peruvian, Brazilian, Baltic, Sami, Russian and Spanish musi­cians.
POING are: Frode Haltli (accordion / vocals on tracks 6, 7, and 8), Håkon Thelin (double bass / vocals on tracks 7, 8, and 9), and Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (alto saxophone / vocals on tracks 7 and 10).
This unusual Norwegian trio is doing interesting work off the beaten track. The unusual begins with the instrumentation ... and display considerable technical depth and breadth, as well as strong ensemble identity. (Julian Cowley, The Wire)

Conductor, composer, and pianist Christian Eggen (b. 1957) is one of the most influential figures on the Norwegian music scene. His field of expertise ranges from contemporary music via genre-merging projects, installations, television and radio drama productions to film, theatre, jazz, opera, and classical music.
As a conductor, he is known as one of Europe’s finest interpreters of contemporary music and has worked closely with composers such as Morton Feldman, John Cage, and Helmut Lachenmann. As a conductor of the Ny Musikk Ensemble, The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and later as permanent conductor and artistic director of Cikada and Oslo Sinfonietta, he has developed Norwegian sinfonietta repertoire since the early eighties and regularly appears on the European contemporary music scene with groups such as the Ensemble MusikFabrik and Ensemble InterContemporain. He has worked with many orchestras including the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestra Filarmonica della Scala in Milan, and the Royal Philharmonic in London.
He has written music for a vast range of formations and settings. His first opera, Franz Kafka Pictures, received its complete world premiere at the Norwegian National Opera in the autumn of 2013. Sections of the opera have been performed since 2009. As a pianist, Eggen is internationally renowned for his interpretations of Mozart and Carl Nielsen, the latter presented on the recording Carl Nielsen: Piano Music on the Victoria label.
Christian Eggen has collaborated on a multitude of recordings within all aspects of his faceted musical career. He was the Festival Artist of the Year at the Bergen International Festival in 2007 and was appointed Commander of The Royal Norwegian Order of Saint Olav for his contribution to contemporary music in Norway and abroad.