Kenneth Karlsson was born in Åmål, Sweden. He started out playing impro/rock with a few friends in his youth. He went on to develop an interest in classi­cal music, and after a few years he became a student at the Music Academy in Oslo, followed by further studies in the Netherlands. Since then Karlsson has been active as a pianist specializing in the areas of contemporary and classical music, and improvisation. During the 1980s and 90s he was a member of groups such as Ensemble K4, Oslo Sinfonietta and Aquari­us, and has collaborated with mezzo-soprano Hilde Torgersen for more than 20 years. He has also played in various improvisation groups over the years, in­cluding the quartet Point 4 with Jon Balke, Ingar Zach and Bjørn Rabben.
Since 1989 Kenneth Karlsson has been pianist and artistic director of Cikada, and is still active in several smaller ensembles. He has toured all over the world and recorded several albums. In 2001 he received a Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy) for his solo album sofferte onde serene, and in 2005 Karlsson’s ensemble Cikada was awarded the Nordic Council Music Prize.
Karlsson has worked with video, dance, multime­dia and is responsible for a considerable number of commissioned works and premier performances. He has collaborated with other musicians and compos­ers including Klaus Lang, Clara Ianotta, James Dillon, Christian Wallumrød, Carola Bauckholt, Liza Lim, Bent Sørensen, Richard Barrett, Lasse Marhaug, Elisabeth Holmertz, and Rolf Wallin. In addition to the piano, Kenneth Karlsson plays Indian harmonium and syn­thesizer.

Bjørn Rabben (b. 1959) is one of the most recognized Norwegian percussionists to date and divides his time between the contemporary music scene and working as a freelance orchestral and opera percussionist. Within the contemporary music sphere, he has dedicated his time to Cikada, the Cikada Duo, which he founded with pianist Kenneth Karlsson, and the improvising quartet Point 4 (Cikada Duo plus pianist Jon Balke and percussionist Ingar Zach). Apart from numerous CD recordings with Cikada and Oslo Sinfonietta, Point 4 released the CD Panopticon on Sofa Records and received international acclaim for their refined and structured improvisations.

Cikada has been a key player on the Nordic contemporary music scene since its formation in 1989. Never afraid to follow its own path, the ensemble continues to renew itself through astute, innovative programming, and the ever-present desire to let audiences experience some of the best music of our time.
The ensemble has since the outset consisted of ten permanent members: flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, string quintet and conductor. It performs at prestigious festivals such as Donaueschinger Musiktage, Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Klangspuren Schwaz, Sacrum Profanum, Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Bergen International Festival, Warszaw Autumn, ECLAT Stuttgart and the Ultima Festival, of which it is a founding member.
Over the years Cikada has commissioned and premiered 200 works by some of today’s leading composers both internationally and from Norway. This includes collaborations with composers such as Carola Bauckholt, Richard Barrett, Laurence Crane, James Dillon and Liza Lim, as well as recent commissions from Georg Friedrich Haas, Malin Bång, Clara Iannotta, and Klaus Lang. Cikada is also a strong protagonist for the many exciting voices of new Norwegian music, with large commissions and portrait concerts by Eivind Buene, Lars Petter Hagen, Jon Øivind Ness, Asbjørn Schaatun, Maja S.K. Ratkje, Rolf Wallin, and Kristine Tjøgersen to name a few.
Cikada has released numerous albums for ECM, LAWO Classics, Aurora and 2L among others, as well as appearing on several split albums and compilations. Their oeuvre has garnered accolades such as the Norwegian Grammy “Spellemannprisen”, the Edison Award and the prestigious Nordic Council’s Music Prize of 2005, in addition to several nominations.
Cikada is funded by the Norwegian Arts Council and Oslo Municipality.