Håkon Thelin is a double bass player and composer. He performs with the ensembles Oslo Sinfonietta and POING, and he regularly visits Ensemble Modern and Musikfabrik. In 2011 Thelin received Norway’s highest award for contemporary music, the Spellemann Prize, for the album Light featuring his own compositions. He has a doctorate in artistic research from the Norwegian Academy of Music and now teaches as an associate professor of contemporary music.

Ernst Simon Glaser is currently principal cellist of the Gothenburg Symphony. After his studies with Ralph Kirshbaum he held the posts of co-principal cello of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and principal cellist of the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra. Glaser is the recipient of awards including the Norwegian ‘Young Soloist of the Year Award 2002’ and, in 2004, ‘Debutantprisen’. He has collaborated with such musicians as Shlomo Mintz, Leif Ove Andsnes, Nikolaj Znaider and Chris- tian Zacharias. As a chamber musician and soloist Glaser has performed in several European countries, in addition to Canada, Israel and China. Ernst Simon Glaser plays a Francesco Rugeri cello, Cremona c. 1680, on loan from Dextra Musica AS.

Bjørg Lewis is one of Norway’s most sought-after and admired cellists. She has been a soloist with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra with Mariss Jansons conducting, as well as performing with orchestras throughout Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Baltics. She has collaborated with musicians such as Leif Ove Andsnes, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Elisabeth Batiashvilli, Truls Mørk, Steven Isserlis, Håkan Hardenberger, Martin Frost and Lawrence Power. Most recently Bjørg has been invited to play with the Nash Ensemble and has also performed with Antje Weithaas and Aleksandar Madžar as part of the Leeds International Chamber Season’s 2016 tribute to the Sonata.
Bjørg is a founding member of the Vertavo String Quartet, an internationally acclaimed ensemble, which is the recipient of numerous awards, including Norway’s prestigious Grieg Prize in 2005. A busy performance schedule takes Bjørg throughout Europe, North America and Japan. She has made her home in the UK for the past fourteen years and has performed at the festivals in Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Bath and Cheltenham, as well as regularly playing at Wigmore Hall.
Bjørg is an accomplished curator of music festivals. From 2001 to 2015 she was Artistic Director of the Elverum Festival in Norway and in 2009 with her husband Paul Lewis, she started Midsummer Music, an annual chamber music festival held in the Chilterns. Vertavo Quartet started its own festival in Norway, which launched in September 2016.
The Dextra Musica Foundation has generously provided her with a Gennaro Gagliano cello of 1748, previously played by Martin Lovett of the Amadeus Quartet.

The Women’s Choral Society of the University of Oslo (Kvindelige Studenters Sangforening — KSS) was founded in 1895 and is the official female choir of the University of Oslo. As the world’s oldest academic choir for women, it can look back on 128 years and the creation of traditions that are still alive today. The choir has played an important role for the university and for the feminist movement, whilst at the same time securing its place in music history through its musical accomplishments and premiere performances of works for female choir.
KSS is an organisation with lofty ambitions and a high level of achievement. In 2006 the choir was awarded First Prize for female choirs at the Musica Mundi International Competition in Riva del Garda, Italy. In 2015 and 2019 the choir participated in the European Choir Games and Grand Prix of Nations in Magdeburg and Gothenburg, respectively, and emerged victorious both times in the category “Folklore” and in “Open Competition”. These accomplishments have led to KSS’s ranking since 2015 as the world’s best female choir by the music organisation Interkultur, in addition to a third place in “Folklore” and a 21st place independent of class (as of 2023). During the Tolosa Choral Contest in Basque Country, Spain in 2017, KSS achieved a second place in the category “Folklore”, and in the spring of 2019 the choir won a third place in the prestigious Fleischmann International Trophy Competition in Cork, Ireland.
Magnificat is the choir’s sixth release on the LAWO Classics label, all under the direction of conductor Marit Tøndel Bodsberg Weyde. The Christmas album Arme jord ha jolefred (LWC1009) came first in 2009, and the associated music video Folkefrelsar won a second place in the European Choral Video Awards in 2012. Brahms (LWC1054), a selection of Johannes Brahms’s compositions for female choir, was released in 2013, followed by Kom regn (LWC1134), a collection of Norwegian contemporary music, in 2017, and, one year later, Som den gylne sol frembryter (LWC1144), featuring Norwegian National Romantic music and traditional folk music. The choir’s second Christmas album, Stille som sne (LWC1209), was released in 2020 to good reviews, including a rating ‘6’ (of 6) by ‘NRK Klassisk’ (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation’s classical music station). “Wow, this is a true gem! Stille som sne is without a doubt this year’s best Christmas album.” (Eystein Sandvik, 30 November 2020)

VERTAVO STRING QUARTET ØYVOR VOLLE — VIOLIN BERIT CARDAS — VIOLIN HENNINGE LANDAAS — VIOLA BJØRG LEWIS — CELLO The Vertavo Quartet is recognized internationally as one of the most exciting and experienced string quartets of our time. Since their founding in Norway in 1984, their masterly performances and unique sound have enchanted audiences wherever they have played.
The Vertavo Quartet performs at all of the most important concert venues in the world. They tour throughout Europe, Scandinavia and the United States and are invited to such chamber music venues as Wigmore Hall in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall in New York. The past concert season included appearances in the United States, Germany, the Czech Republic and Israel.
In addition to distinguishing themselves in the classical core repertoire for string quartet, Vertavo also has a great ability to interpret contemporary music – a skill that has led to memorable performances of works by Ligeti, Adès, Widmann, Gabriela Frank and many contemporary Nordic composers. Recently they gave the critically acclaimed first performances of Poul Ruders’ last string quartet in London’s Barbican Hall and at the Aldeburgh Festival.
Vertavo has collaborated with many of the world’s most outstanding artists including Leif Ove Andsnes, Håkan Hardenberger, Martin Fröst, Isabelle van Keulen and Lawrence Power. Recently they completed a widely acclaimed tour as a quintet in collaboration with the well-known British pianist Paul Lewis, performing also in this configuration at the opening of The Proms chamber music season in 2016.
Vertavo’s recordings include works by Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Debussy, Bartok, Nielsen and Asheim. They have also recorded Mozart’s clarinet quintet with Martin Fröst. Their recordings of Debussy and Grieg earned them Diapason d’Or awards. In June of 2005, the Quartet received the Grieg prize – the most important cultural prize in Norway, one that is awarded only to artists of the highest international reputation. Exactly 10 years earlier, in 1995, they won first prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition, where they also received both the audience prize and the critics’ prize.
Vertavo established its own international chamber music festival – The Vertavo Festival – in Norway in September, 2016. In autumn 2019, Vertavo celebrated its 35-year Jubilee with a marathon concert at Sentralen – a large center for the arts in downtown Oslo – where, in collaboration with some of their good musical friends, they performed all 68 of Haydn’s string quartets in 24 hours.

Since its formation in Oslo in 1989, the Cikada Ensemble has developed a refined and highly acclaimed profile on the international contemporary music scene. From the very beginning, Cikada has consisted of flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, string quintet and conductor Christian Eggen. All ten are equal, permanent members, and the ensemble has become synonymous with the Oslo Sound of fresh, vibrant, warm and virtuosic interpretations of consciously selected, contemporary repertoire.
In concerts at major international festivals and on numerous albums, Cikada’s distinct ensemble profile manifests itself in strong programming. Integral to this work is a wish to develop long-term collaborations with composers and to build composer portraits with commissioned works over time.
The nine musicians also form various formations within the group: Cikada String Quartet and Cikada Trio (flute, clarinet, piano) work as independent Cikada units, adding to the ensemble’s international identity.
Cikada was awarded the prestigious Nordic Music Prize in 2005.

The Norwegian Radio Orchestra is known as “the whole land’s orchestra” and is today regarded with a unique combination of re­spect and affection by its music-loving public. With its remarkably diverse repertoire, this is no doubt the orchestra most heard through­out the land – on the radio, television, and online, and at various diverse venues around the country.
It is a flexible orchestra, performing all from symphonic and contemporary classical mu­sic to pop, rock, folk, and jazz. Each year the orchestra performs together with internation­ally acclaimed artists at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, which is aired to millions of viewers worldwide. Those with whom the orchestra has collaborated in recent years include the Kaizers Orchestra, Mari Boine, Jarle Bern­hoft, Diamanda Galàs, Renée Fleming, An­drew Manze, Anna Netrebko, and Gregory Porter.
The Norwegian Radio Orchestra was found­ed by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corpora­tion in 1946. Its first conductor, Øivind Bergh, led the ensemble in a series of concerts from the broadcasting company’s main studio, es­tablishing the basis of its popularity and se­curing its status as a national treasure. The orchestra continues to perform in the context of important media events. It is comprised of highly talented classical instrumentalists and yet its musical philosophy has remained the same: versatility, a light-hearted approach, curiosity for all kinds of music, and an un­willingness to pigeonhole musical styles. Petr Popelka is currently the orchestra’s Chief Conductor.

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.

Marit Tøndel Bodsberg Weyde (b. 1981) comes from Byneset in Trøndelag and has been the conductor of The Women’s Choral Society of the University of Oslo (Kvindelige Studenters Sangforening — KSS) since 2008.
As a conductor, flautist and church musician she has worked with a number of Norway’s leading choirs and ensembles. In addition to KSS, she is the conductor and artistic director of the professional vocal ensemble Kilden Vokalensemble in Kristiansand and the Norwegian Student Choral Society. She teaches conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music and has served as jury member at competitions in Norway and abroad, and she offers seminars, workshops and master classes on a regular basis for both conductors and singers.
Bodsberg Weyde has contributed to a long list of recordings, and she has won numerous national and international competitions. In the autumn of 2012, she received the Conductor Prize for KSS’s performance at Norway’s national choral competition, and in 2015 and 2019 she led KSS to victory in two classifications during the European Choir Games and Grand Prix of Nations. All the choir’s releases with Bodsberg Weyde as conductor have received glowing reviews. Critics laud her attention to text and phrasing and emphasize her ability to create a really listener-friendly album. She was awarded the Conductor Prize in the autumn of 2015, whilst competing with the Vestoppland Chamber Choir at the Canta al Mar Barcelona competition, and in 2017 she won two first places and a Conductor Prize whilst conducting the Norwegian Student Choral Society at the Sixth International Anton Bruckner Choir Competition.