Ensemble Allegria ranks among Norway’s finest music ensembles and is known for combining its high artistic standard with spontaneity and flexibility. The orchestra consists of 25 permanent musicians and has from the beginning been managed by the musicians themselves under the artistic direction of Maria Angelika Carlsen. In addition to its own concert series “NÅ” in Oslo, Ensemble Allegria has performed at large music festivals in Norway and appeared with some of the world’s leading soloists, including Tine Thing Helseth, Martin Fröst, Truls Mørk, Lawrence Power, Kathryn Stott and Benjamin Schmid. The ensemble has released four recordings on the LAWO Classics label, two of which were nominated for Spellemannprisen, Norway’s Grammy. In recent years the ensemble has worked closely together with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir on a number of concert projects and recordings. In 2018 the orchestra received the prestigious Diapason d’or de l’année award for its recording of Bach’s motets.

Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen is a Norwegian cellist with a long and impressive list of accomplishments. She began lessons at Horten Music School at age five. In 1998 she was accepted at Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, where she studied for six years with Professor Aage Kvalbein. Frida Fredrikke studied with Professor Truls Mørk at the Norwegian Academy of Music, completing a Bachelor’s degree in the spring of 2011. She has also studied with Professor Frans Helmerson. In the spring of 2014, Frida Fredrikke completed a Master’s degree following two years of study with Professor Torleif Thedéen at Edsberg Castle, Royal College of Music, in Stockholm.
Prizes and scholarships Frida Fredrikke has won, both nationally and internationally, include: International Competition Young Musician in Tallin, Estonia; the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Porec, Croatia; Arve Tellefsen’s Music Award; RWE Dea Music Scholarship; the Järnåker stipend; and the Wessel Prize awarded by the Norwegian Society. She has made her mark as a soloist with orchestras at home and abroad, including Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Munich Radio Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, Kaunas City Symphony Orchestra, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Norwegian Navy Band.
Upon completion of her Master’s degree, Frida Fredrikke began as solo cellist with the Royal Swedish Opera Orchestra in Stockholm. She is now a freelance cellist based in Oslo and is in frequent demand as chamber musician and substitute principal cello with Norwegian orchestras. Frida Fredrikke appears regularly as cello soloist, and she serves also as principal cello in the string orchestra Ensemble Allegria. Since the autumn of 2016 she has been on the faculty of “Musikk på Majorstua” as lecturer in cello, and she performs at Norwegian schools with her programme “Aleine med tankane” under the auspices of “Kulturtanken”.
Frida Fredrikke plays a Nicolas Lupot cello from 1823, kindly lent to her by Dextra Musica.