Xtended Hearts and Unheard Herds by Ensemble Ernst

Various composers

Ensemble Ernst

Xtended Hearts and Unheard Herds

Price: € 19.95
Format: CD
Label: Lawo Classics
UPC: 7090020181998
Catnr: LWC 1177
Release date: 14 June 2019
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Label
Lawo Classics

UPC
7090020181998

Catalogue number
LWC 1177

Release date
14 June 2019

Album

Artist(s)

Composer(s)

About the album

Ensemble Ernst’s “Xtended Hearts and Unheard Herds” is the second release on the LAWO Classics label by the distinguished contemporary music ensemble. This album is a continuation of their first, “... BUT …”, as they combine their own commissions with works with international appeal. Their intention is to let well-known names help Norwegian composers gain greater recognition worldwide. We hear works of the Norwegian composers Ragnhild Berstad, Jan Martin Smørdal and Jan Erik Mikalsen, together with Serbian-Swedish comoposer Djuro Zivkovic. The result is a contemporary music bag of sweets in which hopefully everyone can find a favourite.

This recording was made in Jar Church and NRK Radio Concert Hall on cold November afternoons in 2017. The recording process was a close collaboration between the ensemble, the recording company and the composers, and the result is, in our eyes, an important recording of the present for the future and for history.

Ensemble Ernst was established in 1996, an offspring of the contemporary music ensemble at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Thomas Rimul has been the conductor from the start, and most of the musicians have been members since the very beginning.

The ensemble has specialised in recent contemporary music, focusing on composers such as Beat Furrer, Salvatore Sciarrino, Jonathan Harvey, and Iannis Xenakis, as well as actively commissioning music from Norwegian composers.

The ensemble won the Fegersten Foundation’s music prize in 2004, and the Norwegian Society of Composers “Performer of the Year Award” in 2011. Together with Christian Blom and his computer-directed Al-Khowarizmis mechanical orchestra they won Spellemannprisen (Norway’s Grammy) for 2017 in the category “contemporary” for “Christian Blom — Bring me that Horizon”.

Artist(s)

Ensemble Ernst

Ensemble Ernst was founded in 1996 and quickly established itself as one of Norway’s pre-eminent and most entertaining contemporary music ensembles, touring at home and abroad, performing at festivals and releasing albums. The ensemble has won a Spellemann prize (Norwegian Grammy), as well as the Norwegian Composers’ Association's “Performer of the Year”. Ensemble Ernst actively commissions works every year by Norwegian composers such as Jan Erik Mikalsen, Kristine Tjøgersen, Ragnhild Berstad, Jon Øivind Ness and Anna Linh Berg. Ernst has always endeavoured to commission and perform quality acoustic music that communicates with the audience and performers alike. We intrinsically trust that people need first-rate performances of outstanding music. Thomas Rimul has been the ensemble's conductor since the very start.

Ensemble Ernst was founded in 1996 and quickly established itself as one of Norway’s pre-eminent and most entertaining contemporary music ensembles, touring at home and abroad, performing at festivals and releasing albums. The ensemble has won a Spellemann prize (Norwegian Grammy), as well as the Norwegian Composers’ Association's “Performer of the Year”. Ensemble Ernst actively commissions works every year by Norwegian composers such as Jan Erik Mikalsen, Kristine Tjøgersen, Ragnhild Berstad, Jon Øivind Ness and Anna Linh Berg.
Ernst has always endeavoured to commission and perform quality acoustic music that communicates with the audience and performers alike. We intrinsically trust that people need first-rate performances of outstanding music.
Thomas Rimul has been the ensemble's conductor since the very start.

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Thomas Rimul (conductor)

Thomas Rimul received his diploma in conducting from the Norwegian Academy of Music in 1998. He is artistic director for Ensemble Ernst, one of Scandinavia’s leading contemporary music ensembles, chief conductor of Arktisk Sinfonietta in Tromsø, and he has established himself as a distinguished interpreter of contemporary music. With these, and with other orchestras and ensembles, he has conducted first performances of over a hundred works. The Norwegian Society of Composers honoured the conductor, together with Ensemble Ernst, with its ‘Performer of the Year Award’ in 2011.
Rimul has conducted most of Norway’s major orchestras, and he regularly accepts invitations from the professional bands and other institutions associated with Norwegian musical life. He has recorded with Ensemble Ernst, Bodø Sinfonietta and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, among others, and he received Spellemannprisen (Norway’s Grammy) for 2017 together with Ensemble Ernst.
Rimul has taught at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and in the spring of 2017 he completed a two-year fellowship at the University of Stavanger.
Through his involvement in the project “Transposisjon” he has on a number of occasions conducted Vietnam’s national symphony orchestra and taught Vietnamese conductors.

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Silje Aker Johnsen (soprano)

Silje Aker Johnsen is completing a doctorate at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts / Academy of Opera. She has also studied at the Grieg Academy in Bergen, Universität der Künste in Berlin, and she has a Master’s degree in classical singing from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
In the autumn of 2017 Aker Johnsen received glowing reviews for her interpretation of the role of Malin in the opera “Ballerina” by Synne Skouen at the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet. She has made guest concert appearances there in “Ørets teater” by Henrik Hellstenius, in the chamber opera “Simon” by Gerhard Stäbler, in the Norwegian Opera’s ‘5. Rad’ productions, and in “HER” by Erik Dæhlin and Silje Aker Johnsen.
Aker Johnsen has sung the role of Io in “The Io Passion” by Harrison Birthwistle for the Berlin Chamber Opera in Konzerthaus Berlin, and the female lead role in “A Gentle Spirit” by John Tavener with the same company. She has performed at the National Theatre and has appeared as a dancer with the Polish Dance Theatre in “Minus 2” by Ohad Naharin. Roles in choreography concerts include “Thousand Rooms”, with choreography by Gunhild Bjørnsgaard and music by Georges Aperghis.
Silje Aker Johnson has premiered a number of works and has been guest soloist at many festivals, including Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Die Donaueschinger Musiktage, Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival, and the Bergen International Festival. The Norwegian Society of Composers honoured her with its ‘Performer of the Year Award’ in 2013. She is a member of Ensemble neoN, whose debut album won Spellemannprisen (Norway’s Grammy) for 2016 in the category “contemporary”.

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