OLA ASDAHL ROKKONES – ALTO SAXOPHONE Ola Asdahl Rokkones (b. 1983) is one of few saxophonists working within the fields of both classical music and jazz. He has studied with several acclaimed teachers including Lars Lien, Vibeke Breian, Jean-Yves Fourmeau and John-Pål Inderberg. In 2012 he received the culture prize of Tromsø Municipality, and in 2018 he was the laureate of the artist grant of the Troms region. In 2019 he was selected as one of the four recipients of the Barents Scholarship, “for valuable and outstanding contribution to the cultural life and cooperation across borders in the Barents Region”. In 2022 he was awarded an artist grant from Ingerid, Synnøve og Elias Fegerstens Stiftelse.
As a classical musician, he has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras in Norway, Russia, Germany and France, among them Arktisk Filharmoni, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Mariinsky Symphonic Orchestra. With various constellations he has toured internationally, and performed in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Germany, France, Austria, Russia, Poland, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Turkey, and Brazil. He has commissioned and premiered music by numerous composers, such as Alexander Aarøen, Alexander Manotskov, Terje Bjørklund, Agnes Ida Pettersen, Tine Surel Lange, Herborg Rundberg, Rakel Nystabakk, Helge Iberg, Kjell Habbestad, Martin Romberg, Torstein Aagaard-Nilsen, Erik Stifjell, Lars Skoglund, Håvard Lund, Bodvar Drotninghaug Moe, and Bjørn Breimo.
His discography includes eleven releases of various genres, including the albums Trio Brax (LWC1248) with Julia Neher and Sergej Osadchuk, and Norwegian Saxophone (LWC1162) with Fabio Mastrangelo and the St. Petersburg Northern Sinfonia.
Ola Asdahl Rokkones is an endorsed artist and official ambassador of Henri Selmer Paris Saxophones.

Fulfilling the planned expansion of The St. Petersburg Music Hall Theatre's existing Northern Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra into a full-time symphony orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia was established in spring of 2016, under the leadership of Fabio Mastrangelo.
Since its inception, the Northern Sinfonia has taken part in numerous prestigious city events while continuing to present a regular concert series within the theatre’s season. Notable guest artists include Ekaterina Mechetina, Polina Osetinskaya, Giuseppe Albanese, Shlomo Mintz, Miroslav Kultyshev, Daniil Kramer, Dmitry Sitkovetsky, Ola Asdahl Rokkones, Giampiero Sobrino, Larisa Dolina, and Goran Bregovich. Soloists of both the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky theaters, as well as Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre frequently collaborate with the ensemble. In addition, young talented artists of the Elena Obraztsova International Academy of Music have often participated in various projects. Aside from traditional orchestral concerts, the orchestra also offers literary and family oriented programs together with popular actors and personalities such as Sati Spivakova, Vladimir Koshevoj, Gosha Kutsenko, Yuriy Galtsev, Andrey Noskov, Mikhail Morozov, and Sergey Migitsko. The Northern Sinfonia is a preferred guest of the St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, presenting each year original musical and cultural programs. The project 1917 Accord – Revolution and Music, performed in November 2017, attracted the attention and praise of numerous international guests at the sixth forum. At home, the orchestra is featured at the popular St. Petersburg International Festival – Opera Vsem (“opera all together”) where each year they showcase four different operatic titles. Furthermore, the orchestra often performs at prestigious concert venues in both St. Petersburg and Moscow, in halls all over Russia, as well as on tour in Italy, Europe, and the Middle East.
The orchestra’s repertoire includes both Russian and foreign classics, in addition to works by the most diverse contemporary composers. The exceptional artistry of the orchestra’s musicians, together with the collaboration with talented young artists and the desire to augment the repertoire through presenting contemporary works, is all enhanced by the expertise and undeniable charisma of leader Fabio Mastrangelo.

Fabio Mastrangelo (b. 1965) is Russia’s most sought after Italian-born conductor. Since 2013, he has been the Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Music Hall Theater as well as Principal Conductor & Music Director of its two orchestras, the St. Petersburg Northern Sinfonia and St. Petersburg Northern Sinfonietta Chamber Orchestra. In addition, he serves as Principal Conductor of Sinfonica ARTica of the Yakutsk State Philharmonic, which he helped establish in 2012, and as Artistic Director of the Camerata Soloists Chamber Orchestra of the Novosibirsk State Philharmonic. In September 2018, he was named Principal Conductor of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra-Russian Philharmonic. He also currently holds the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the Novosibirsk Symphony Orchestra. Additional positions include those of Music Director of the St. Petersburg International Festival – Opera Vsem (“opera all together”) and Artistic Director of the City of Togliatti Summer Music Festival – Classics on the Volga.
Mastrangelo frequently collaborates with Russia’s most prestigious orchestras and for a number of years has been a guest conductor at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, where he made his 2007 debut with "Tosca". In 2008, he made his first Stars of the White Nights Festival appearance replacing Valery Gergiev on short notice and has been invited back since. In 2016, he conducted premiere performances of Andrea de Rosa’s newest production of Verdi’s "Simon Boccanegra", while in 2017 he conducted a new production of Verdi’s "I vespri siciliani". In recent years, he has made appearances with the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra, Belgrade Radio Symphony Orchestra, Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Bolshoi Theater Symphony Orchestra, Bruckner Orchestra Linz, Budapest MAV Symphony Orchestra (at Vienna’s Musikverein), Thüringer Symphoniker Saalfeld-Rudolstadt (Germany), Baden-Baden Philharmonic, Hamilton Philharmonic (Canada), the Latvian National Orchestra, and the OSI (Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana).