ArtEx participants
ArtEx participants 2023-2024
Azar Ebrahimi
Documentary filmmakerAzar Ebrahimi (b. 1989) is a Norwegian-Iranian documentary film maker. She grew up in Trondheim, studied film science in England and from 2010 - 2023 she worked at NRK (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) in Oslo, as a director for both individual documentaries and series. Her projects have received great reviews and she has received nominations and awards for, among other projects, Helene sjekker inn, F-ordet, Innafor and Folkevalgt. The common thread of her projects is that they open closed spaces and break down prejudices. Azar is now developing her first documentaries as an independent filmmaker. When she's not doing that, she climbs mountains and rocks all over the world.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Ida Haugen
Dancer and choreographerIda Haugen (b. 1991) is a versatile dance artist from Skien, who lives and works in Oslo. She explores performing arts as a performer and choreographer in collaborative projectsand individual works. In addition to dance, she is interested in a wide range of vocabulary, including improvisation, acting, theatre, film, text and song. With a BA in contemporary dance from the Oslo Academy of Arts and studies at Studio Harmonic in Paris, she has been a member of the artist collective Oslo Koreografiske since 2018, and danced in works by Ellen Jerstad/Roza Moshtaghi, Nagelhus Schia Productions/Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Stian Danielsen, Jennie Bergsli and others. Haugen held an apprenticeshipposition at Carte Blanche, Norway's national company for contemporary dance, from 2014 to 2015. Internationally, she has collaborated with Kari Hoaas Productions, touredJordan, Georgia, Palestine and opened the LaMaMa Moves! festival in New York 2023. Haugen has also contributed to film festivals as a solo performer in "Shadowland" by Kari Hoaas. In 2020, she debuted as a choreographer with "Hot Moon", in collaborationwith Dansens Hus and NORA. As a choreographer, she has also created works for revues, choirs, fashion shows and young dancers. Haugen has received several grants and support for her work as a dance artist, including a 1-year work grant from the Cultural Council in 2022. She is currently working as a dancer and choreographer in a new project with Unge Viken Theater directed by Ellen Jerstad. Spring 2024 she will dance in De Syv Dødsynder at the Opera, directed by Hanne Tømta, and in the autumn of 2024 she will start the solo project Rose Water, where she explores her background and belonging to Vietnam through her mother's journey as a boat refugee.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Julian Juhlin
Scenographer and visual artistJulian Juhlin (b. 1987) is a Danish artist and scenographer educated at Denmark's National School of Performing Arts. He has designed both scenography and costumes for a large number of stages, including the Royal Theater and the Danish contribution to the Prague Quadrennial, the world's largest exhibition of scenography. At the same time, he has worked as an artist by using the approaches to staging he learned from working with theater to create a theatrical visual art. His practice includes film, installation, performance and scenography and he has exhibited in places as diverse as Copenhagen Contemporary and Times Square in New York, has been awarded the Young Artistic Elite Program from the Statens Kunstfond in Denmark and ISCP residency in NYC. He is fascinated by the tension between the staged and the authentic and has staged his own reality and built up a personal iconography of images and figures based on his own life, where he blurs the boundaries between life, art and theatre.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard
Fashion designerLouise Lyngh Bjerregaard is a fashion designer based in Paris known for blurring the lines between couture and ready-to-wear. Based on craftsmanship, an obsession for textilesand a special attention to detail, she has developed a brand that has a strong focus on technical sensibility while uniting art, fashion and subversion. Bjerregaard studied tailoringat the Scandinavian Academy of Fashion Design in Copernhagen. She interned with the designers Dennis Lyngsø, Anne Sofie Madsen, Asger Juel Larsen and Mike Eckhaus at Eckhaus Latta in New York. Louise started her career working on a project with Lady Gaga, and in 2015 she studied knitwear at Central Saint Martins in London under Professor Sarah Gresty. Bjerregaard launched women's clothing under her own name in 2019 and moved to Paris in early 2021. Louise Lyngh Bjerregaard is best known for her textile expertise and artistic knitwear, although in an interview with Dazed and Confused, Bjerregaard stated that she ”felt the need to break out of the knitwear label that’s been put on her name”, asserting that her brand was not a knitwear label and demonstrating this through her runway collections. Her brand is also known for its zero-waste policy and sustainability. Her work has been shown at a number of institutions, including the Maison du Danemark, the National Gallery of Denmark and the Moderna Museet in Malmö. Bjerregaard hadher runway debut in 2021 during Couture Week in Paris. A few months later, she made her digital debut at Copenhagen Fashion Week in August 2021. Earlier that year, she wasnominated as a finalist at the Zalando Sustainability Awards 2021 and the Magasin du Nord Fashion Prize 2021. In March 2022, Bjerregaard debuted her first ready-to-wearcollection. In the same year, she was nominated as "Name of the Year" at the ELLE Awards. In February 2023, she debuted her first artisanal ready-to-wear collection during Paris Fashion Week at 35/37.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Maria Ose
FlutistMaria Ose (b. 1998) is currently working as a solo flutist in the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra whwrw she will be for the 2023/24 season. At the age of 15, Maria made her debut as a soloist, when she and her twin sister Ingrid played with the Norwegian Broadcasting Orchestra. Since then she has been a soloist with both the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Philharmonic. She substitutes as solo flutist in the largest orchestras in Norway, such as the Opera Orchestra, theNorwegian Broadcasting Orchestra and the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Maria is a dedicated chamber musician, and in 2020 she founded her own chamber music festival,Ose Kammerspel, together with her sister Ingrid. She is currently to be seen at several of the country's festivals and concert series, and has played chamber music withinternationally highly sought-after musicians such as Elise Båtnes, Håvard Gimse, and Francoix Leleux. Maria has received the Dream Scholarship from Norsk Tipping, the Furore Scholarship from Sogn og Fjordane Sparebank and the TÆL Scholarship from Sparebanken Midt-Norge - where she and her sister Ingrid were named the cultural talents of the year. Maria is currently pursuing a master's degree at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München under one of Europe's most sought-after flute professors, Prof. Andrea Lieberknecht.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Mark Tholander
Visual artistMark Tholander is a Danish visual artist who lives and works in Copenhagen. The notion of what a community consists of is a pivot point in his practice. He has worked on themes such as the family as a normalizing community and society as a social hierarchy. His practice revolves around what happens when communities step out of normality, out of synchronicity - and whether we can create new connections in collective disorientation. His practice consists to a high degree of collaboration, and he has worked together with musicians and actors to create cinematic works. He has previously shown his works at Rencontres Internationales (FR), Seattle Transmedia & Independent Film Festival (US), Korea Foundation Gallery (KR), Kunsthal Aarhus (DK), FILE – Electronic Language International Festival (BR), New Media Artspace ( US) and the Beijing International Short Film Festival (CN). His latest project has been a multi-channel installation at VEGA, in collaboration with Art Hub (as part of VEGA's new strategy to work across the art forms in 2022), and a solo exhibition at This Is Not a Church in Seoul, South Korea, in 2023.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Marte Nødtvedt Skjæggestad
ArchitectMarte is the one half of the Norwegian-Danish architect duo Jespersen Nødtvedt, who focus on craftsmanship and sustainability. Their office wants to look at our shared material bank with a new perspective, merging architectural artistry and sustainable materials into a unified entity. The aim is an architecture where construction and materials create the expression itself and transcend traditional ideas about form and style. In parallel with built projects, the office holds a more exploratory track where construction and material investigations are explored in models and 1:1. The two tracks inform each other in a unified and multifaceted artistic work. Part of their work is to be seen at the Danish Architecture Center in Copenhagen and at the Utzon Center in Aalborg. Their work has received several prizes, working grants and career programs, like DUKE by the Danish Arts Foundation.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Uno Vesje
Harpist and composerUno Alexander Vesje (1989) is an award-winning Norwegian harpist and composer. Uno made his international breakthrough in the harp world as winner of both the World Harp Competition in the Netherlands 2021 and the USA International Harp Composition Contest in 2019. As a performer and composer, Uno creates projects in which he highlights societal challenges through music, such as the climate crisis, violence against women, racism and queer sexuality. Uno has performed his projects at festivals in Europe, the USA and Asia, in concert halls such as Carnegie Hall in New York City and Het Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. As a soloist, Uno has played with orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, the Arctic Philharmonic Sinfonietta, the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra and the Norwegian Wind Ensemble. Uno has released two albums of his own music, "Poems From a City" and "Oslo(ve)".
Photo: Camilla Storvollen
Veslemøy Narvesen
Drummer, songwriter, singer and composerVeslemøy Narvesen (b.1997) is known as one of the most exciting new names of the Norwegian jazzscene. She has collaborated with a number of different artists like Kit Downes, Mette Rasmussen's Trio North, Jacob Young, Mats Eilertsen, Anja Lauvdal, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten as well as being an active member of bands like Schemes Quartet, Dafnie, Kongle Trio and Mall Girl. In 2020 she was awarded the talent-prize for young jazz-musicians by Oslo Jazzfestival and in 2021 she won the prestigious Norwegian music-competition “Jazzintro” together with Kongle Trio. Veslemøy is inspired by jazz as well as rock/pop and classical music, which comes to show in her solo-project «We don't imagine anymore» where she composes, sings and play various instruments. The album was referred to as «the Autumn's finest Norwegian album" by Audun Vinger in Dagens Næringsliv.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Zakiya Ajmi
WriterZakiya Ajmi is a Danish writer who graduated from the Writers' School for Children's Literature at Aarhus University. She writes in many different genres and for different target groups – both picture books for young children, youth novels for teenagers, graphic novels and plays. In2022 she debuted with her first novel for an adult audience. The novel is called Delvist Møbleret (Partly furnished) and was nominated for the Danish Debutante Prize. It was also selected by the Statens Kunstfond to be the Danish participant in theEuropean First Novel Festival held in Kiel, Germany. In Denmark, she had her breakthrough as a writer in 2020, with the youth novel Vulkan. The novel was nominated for theMinistry of Culture's author prize and the Nordic Council's children's literature prize. The novel has been translated and sold in Norway (where it is published by Samlaget), as well as the Faroe Islands and Italy.
Photo: Agnete Brun
ArtEx participants 2021-2022
Ahmed Umar
Visual artsAhmed Umar is a Norwegian-Sudanese artist who works with, among other things, ceramics, jewellery, performance and prints. Umar is originally from Sudan and came to Norway as a political refugee in 2008. His work is often inspired by experiences from growing up, as well as the dynamics that arise in the break with one country and the adaptation to another. Ahmed Umar has a master's degree in medium and material-based art from the Norwegian Academy of Fine Arts (2016), and has had exhibitions at several central art institutions in Norway. Among other things, he has exhibited at Kunstnernes Hus, the Museum of Cultural History (Oslo) and the Hannah Ryggen Triennale. Umar's works have been purchased by, among others, Drammen's Museum of Art and Cultural History and Oslo Municipality's Art Collection. He has received a number of awards such as Scheibler's Handicraft Prize in 2018 and the Debutant Prize at the Annual Exhibition for Norwegian Craftsmen in 2017.
Photo: Andreas Roksvaag.
Birgitta Elisa Oftestad
CellistBirgitta Oftestad studied at Unge Talenter Barratt Due from the age of ten and has participated in the mentor program Crescendo from 2016. Since 2012, from the age of ten, she has played at various concert venues and competitions both nationally and internationally. In 2018 she won the Norwegian soloist award, and in the same year she represented Norway at the Eurovision Young Musicians in Edinburgh. In 2019, she opened the Oslo Chamber Music Festival, aged just 17, and in 2021 she won the Young Soloist competition. She has participated in international courses and festivals, such as Kronberg and Verbier, and has already won a number of scholarships and awards.
"Birgitta is a highly gifted cellist, actually one of the greatest talents I have ever heard. And I have heard many" Arve Tellefsen
"Birgitta Oftestad is one of the greatest cello talents I have heard. She is able to convey emotionally demanding music far beyond her age." Truls Mørk
Photo: Andreas Roksvaag
Catharina Vu
ActressCatharina Vu is originally from Sandnes, but lives in Oslo. She has a bachelor's degree in acting from "Det Multinorske" in Oslo, and has worked freelance as an actor for 3 years. Catharina has made a name for herself as an actress at the Riksteateret, Det Norske Teateret, and as, among other things, the au-pair "Pim" in the TV series EXIT. In addition, she has played the following main roles: Nila (Nila og den store reisen/Det Norske Teateret) and Tara (Habitat/Teateret Vårt).
Photo: Agnete Brun
Heiki Rippinen
Director and actorHeiki Rippinen is a performing artist with experience as a performer, director, dramaturg and teacher. He has a Finnish father who, among other things, has been a fairground worker, and from a young age he has traveled through Scandinavia together with fairground workers, which has left its mark on his artistic expression. Heiki has worked with, among others, Bianca Casady (CocoRosie), Lars Vik and Ariel Efraim Ashbel, and with groups such as Grenland Friteater, METIS Arts and Building Conversation. In addition, he has worked as theater manager at Teater Momentum in Odense and resident artist at Theater Freiburg. Heiki's work has been presented on stages such as Thalia Theater, Münchner Kammerspiele and Black Box Teater - and at festivals such as GogolFest and Copenhagen Stage.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Idun Baltzersen
Visual artsIdun Baltzersen is a 33-year-old Norwegian visual artist. She is originally from Trondheim, but lives and works in Stockholm. She has a Bachelor in graphics (2012), and a master's in visual arts from Konstfack in Stockholm (2014). Baltzersen is known for his monumental wall installations of graphics and printing plates, as well as his handmade artist books. Currently, she works with drawing, cold needle and woodcut. Among other things, Idun has participated in collective exhibitions at the Modern Museum in Malmö, Galleri Magnus Karlsson in Stockholm, Uppsala Konstmuseum and the Artists' Association, and she has had a solo exhibition at RAM gallery. Idun was nominated for the Queen Sonja Print Award (2020), she has received a work grant from Norske Grafikeres fond, project support from the Norwegian Artists' Remuneration Fund Lindell grant (2019). She has won 1st prize (Seglem prize) in the international woodcut festival HIT 2019, Stockholm City's cultural grant and a 3-year work grant from the Visual Artists Remuneration Fund.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Inés Belli
Choreographer and dancerInés Belli is a dancer and choreographer based in Oslo. She has her education from the Academy of Fine Arts in Oslo and Goldsmiths University in London, and since her education has worked creatively and performing with both choreography and dance, alone and in various constellations. She has produced two full-evening performances, Postmodern Cool (2019) and Metasexy (2020), both of which premiered at Dansens Hus Oslo. Belli's work has also been presented through Aerowaves, Dansenett Norge and Dansenett Sweden. She has also choreographed commissioned works for students at Oslo School of the Arts and Spin Off Forstudium dans. In his choreographic practice, Belli tries to look critically at norms and structures in society. Through displacement and confusion of the spectator's gaze and the performer's practice, she creates aesthetic expressions and choreographic structures in the context of a broad bodily and theoretical reference base. In 2019, Belli received the Norwegian State's Artist Grant for newly established artists.
Margrete Skretting Bergset
MusicianMargrete Skretting Bergset is a singer, songwriter, composer and producer, originally from Asker, but living in Oslo. She is currently studying singing at the improvisation and jazz line at Norway's Academy of Music, and has a main focus on songwriting, text work, music production and singing. At the same time, she works with her own solo project, and with various bands, classical choral and ensemble singing and free improvisation. In 2021, Magrete plans to record a debut album with his own songs and compositions at Luft Recordings in Sandvika. In her music, she often has impulses from trip-hop, jazz, electronica and Norwegian folk music. Her music has been used in the TV series "Unge Lovende" (NRK) and "I May Destroy You" (BBC/HBO). Nominated for the Golden Throne for best music video (Short Film Festival 2021). Has also received the NOPA grant in 2018.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Mie Gjersen Hansen
Mie Gjersen Hansen is originally from Denmark, but lives in Oslo. In the summer of 2018, she completed her bachelor's in "Production design" from the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer. After her education, she has done several assignments in Norway and Denmark in advertising, short films, music videos and TV series. Some of the productions she has worked on are "Minkavlerne" (Danish TV series), "Equinox" (Danish TV series/Netflix), "Vildmænd" (feature film/Nordic film), "Motor Agency" (commercial Jack & Jones) .
Sandra Lied Haga
CellistSandra Lied Haga is a cellist, living in Oslo. She started playing the cello as early as 3 years old and was the youngest participant ever in Barratt Due's Music Program for talented children. She was also one of the first students at the London Razumovsky Academy and the Berlin Barenboim Academy. From the age of ten she was invited to spend the summers at the Margess, Aspen and Verbier festivals. She later studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music under Truls Mørk, Lars Anders Tomter and Thorleif Thedeen. Since her debut as a 12-year-old in Wigmore Hall, she has guested with countless orchestras and moved audiences all over the world, including in important musical metropolises such as New York, Berlin, Prague, London, Zurich, Budapest, Warsaw and Tallinn. Since she was 17 years old, she has played at all the important festivals, such as Salzburger Festspiele, Utrecht Festival and Pärnu Music Festival, as well as all the big festivals here at home. As a committed chamber musician, she has played with prominent artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yo-Yo Ma and many more. The list is long. She has won the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award 2019, and has a number of awards both nationally and internationally. In 2019, she was nominated for the Spellemannsprisen for her debut album.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Sonoko Miriam Welde
ViolinistSonoko Miriam Welde is from Bergen, and is currently studying at the "Haute Ecole de Musique de Lausanne" in Switzerland. She has played as a soloist with a large number of large orchestras, including Oslo Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Lausanne Chamber Orchestra, WDR symphony orchestra Köln and Kremerata Baltica. She has also won several high-profile awards, including NRK's Virtuos competition (2014), the Norwegian soloist award, and the Equinor grant for classical music. In 2021, her debut album with the Oslo Philharmonic will be released on the record company LAWO.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Thea Sofie Loch Næss
Thea Sofie Loch Næss started acting when she was 8 years old. She has commuted between Norway and the USA for several years, and has developed a solid British and American accent. She has been very successful in international roles such as Kristin Sverresdatter and Birkebeinerne (2016), Linnea Kaupang in "Wisting" (2019), Skade in "The Last Kingdom" (Netflix), Mio in "Hjerteslag" (TV2). In addition, she played the lead role in Eirik Svensson's film "One Night in Oslo", which premiered in 2014. Thea has studied drama at Hartvig Nissen's school in Oslo.
Photo: Agnete Brun
Torje Fagertun Spilde
MusicianTorje Fagertun Spilde is a composer, producer and performer in electronic music. He has lived in Tromsø for 4 years, but has recently moved to Oslo. In Tromsø, Torje was a course holder for the "Beatguiden" concept at Tvibi (an offer where you can get guidance and feedback on music productions, as well as feedback, tips and advice in music arrangements, and software). In addition, Torje has organized several workshops in Northern Norway, with a practical and theoretical review of what it means to be a performing musician in electronic music. Torje publishes and performs music under the stage name "Third Attempt", signed under the record company Beatservice Recordings (based in Tromsø). He has also released music on the record label Paper Recordings (UK). At the end of April 2021, he released his newest album: "Beats From the Quarantine".
Photo: Agnete Brun
ArtEx participants 2017-2020
Aasne Vaa Greibrokk
Film directorAasne Vaa Greibrokk (b. 1982, Bodø) is educated at Nordland School of Art and Film and the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer. Her short films have been selected for international festivals. The exam film To whom it may concern won the award for best film at the Student Film Festival in Lillehammer. She made her debut as a feature film director in 2016 with All the Beautiful (Reykjavik International Film Festival and Hamptons International Film Festival).
Alexander Kereklidis Turpin
Film directorAlexander Kereklidis Turpin (b. 1989, Stockholm) graduated in film directing at the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer in 2016. He has made a number of short films focusing on interpersonal relationships in the borderland between politics and private life. He has received the most attention for the exam film "Generation Mars", which was nominated for the Student Academy Awards (Student-Oscar) and shown at over 20 recognized short film festivals in five parts of the world, as well as for the still film "Kill the Rich", which has won awards in Scandinavia and England.
Amalie Stalheim
CellistAmalie Stalheim (b. 1993, Bergen) is an award-winning cellist and one of Scandinavia's foremost young musicians. She started playing the cello when she was 6 years old, and is now in her final year of the performing master's studies at Edsberg Castle at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, Sweden. Amalie studies with cello professor Torleif Thedéen. Amalie is already sought after as a soloist and chamber musician and in the last year she has been a soloist with several professional orchestras in Norway and Sweden. She won one of Sweden's biggest competitions for classical musicians, the Ljunggrenska tävlingen in 2015, is regularly invited to participate in festivals at home and abroad, and was awarded the Firmenich Prize at the prestigious Verbier Festival Academy in Switzerland in 2015. In 2016, Amalie was Stalheim one of five young classical performers nominated for the Statoil Prize, and she has previously received major scholarships from the Royal Academy of Music in Sweden, YAMAHA Europe Music Foundation in Sweden, Den Nordiske Första St Johannisorden in Sweden and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank's scholarship G9alt for young musical talents.
Aslak Aune Nygård
DancerAslak Aune Nygård (b. 1995, Trondheim) works as a performing dancer. He graduated from the Ballet Academy at the Oslo Academy of Arts with a bachelor's degree in contemporary dance. Since 2018, he has been associated with Carte Blanche, Norway's national company for contemporary dance, where he has worked with the choreographers Francois Chaignaud, Ingeleiv Berstad, Kristin Ryg Helgebostad and Bouchra Ouizguen. In addition to this, he works closely with the choreographer Roza Moshtaghi and is active with his own artistic work which, among other things, has been shown at Dansens Hus during the Choreography Laboratory.
Carl Martin Eggesbø
ActorCarl Martin Eggesbø (b. 1995, Oslo) has his education from the Academie voor Theater en Dans in Amsterdam and acting training at the Theater Academy in Oslo, where he will graduate in 2019. Before and during his education, he has been associated with various projects in theatre, film and TV, including as the character Eskild in the NRK hit SKAM.
David Cariano Timme
PercussionistDavid Cariano Timme (b. 1989, Ludwigsburg) is a percussionist with a classical background and holds a bachelor's degree from the Musikhochschule Lübeck, as well as a master's degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music. His activity as a percussionist is not limited to classical music and encompasses a wide range of things from musical theater to pop music. He has played as a soloist or chamber musician at venues across Europe and Asia, such as Schleswig-Holstein Musikfestival, Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Øya-Festivalen, Hong Kong Days of New Music and others. David's work focuses on collaborations with young Norwegian composers as well as international commissions for new works for percussion and electronics.
Edvard Munch Ensemble
A year and a half after its launch in the autumn of 2015, the Edvard Munch Ensemble has already achieved great recognition for its innovative presentation of classical music. Five of Norway's leading young performers have teamed up to create a completely new concert experience where known and unknown chamber music is interwoven with scenic, literary and visual elements that appear on stage when the music is played. Each of the ensemble's projects is based on a specific theme which is presented not only through the musical and art forms on display, but also through the ensemble's own visual profile. The ensemble has performed i.a. in Stormen Konserthus, Bærum cultural center, The Norwegian Opera and Drammens Theater and has collaborated with, among others, with KODE in Bergen and the University of Oslo. Dextra Musica is the ensemble's regular partner in the investment in communication with children and young people. The Edvard Munch Ensemble is represented in ArtEx by Thormod Rønning Kvam and Victoria Putterman.
Ensemble Allegria
Ensemble Allegria is one of the leading classical ensembles in Norway, and since its inception in 2008 has thrilled audiences with its energetic and communicative performances. The ensemble is run by the musicians themselves, and regularly guests at festivals such as Festspillene i Bergen, Oslo Chamber Music Festival, Ultimafestivalen, Hardanger Musikkfest and Festspillene i Nord Norge. Ensemble Allegria has collaborated with soloists such as Truls Mørk, Christian Ihle Hadland, Martin Fröst, Tine Thing Helseth and Lawrence Power, and in recent years has had a close collaboration with the Norwegian Soloists' Choir. In 2012, Ensemble Allegria was awarded Statoil's classical talent grant, as the first ensemble ever. The orchestra has released two records on LAWO Classics, the last one was nominated for the Spellemann prize for 2015. Ensemble Allegria is represented in ArtEx by Maria Eikefet and Maria Angelika Carlsen.
Ernst De Geer
Film directorErnst De Geer (b. 1989, Stockholm) is educated at the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer and Biskops Arnö in Stockholm. His graduation film "Kulturen" won national and international awards, including Best Norwegian Short Film at the Bergen International Film Festival. In 2018, he was selected as a Wild Card by the Swedish Film Institute, to develop the feature film "Hypnosen", and together with Barbosa Film received production support for the short film "Wimbledon" by the Norwegian Film Institute.
Fredrik Longva
Theater directorFredrik Longva (b. 1987, Tønsberg) graduated as a theater director in 2018 from the Theater Academy, KHiO. He also has a Master's in art history with specialization in performance art and neurocognitive psychology, as well as a bachelor's degree in art history with specialization in staged photography from the University of Bergen. In addition, Fredrik has a Bachelor's degree in psychology with specialization in work and organizational psychology from the University of Oslo. Fredrik has had study stays in New York, Berlin and Rome. Autumn 2019 Fredrik makes his directorial debut with "Dødsdansen" by August Strindberg at Trøndelag theater
Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken
DancerGrete Sofie Borud Nybakken (b. 1993, Fetsund) is educated at Den Norske Opera og Balletts Ballettskole and The Royal Ballet School in London, and has been employed as a ballet dancer at Den Norske Opera og Ballett since 2011. She has danced a number of prominent roles in the classical repertoire, including as the Sugar Fairy in Dinna Bjørn's Nutcracker, Myrtha in Giselle, Lescaut's mistress in Manon and Kitty in Christian Spuck's Anna Karenina. In the modern repertoire, she has, among other things, danced in the ballets Falling Angels and No More Play by Jiří Kylián, Forsythe's The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude and Nacho Duatos Without Words, as well as danced the role of Regine in Cina Espejord and Marit Moum Aune's production Ghosts - Ibsen's Gengangere . In addition, she has participated in pieces by a number of Norwegian choreographers such as Alan Lucien Øyen, Ingun Bjørnsgaard and Hege Haagenrud. In 2014, she won the Anders Jahres prize for younger artists.
Ida Elise Broch
ActressIda Elise Broch (b. 1987, Oslo) graduated from the Statens Teaterhøgskole at the University of the Arts in Oslo, she works as a freelance actor and can be seen both on the theater stage and in film. She is known from films such as Switch and The Man Who Loved Yngve, and from the TV series The Third Eye and Lilyhammer. She won Best Female Actor during Gullruten in 2015 for her role in the third season of Lilyhammer.
Ingrid Neset
FlutistIngrid S. Neset (b. 1992, Os) started playing the flute at the age of 11, and won the youth music championship in 2009 where she was named "Musician of the Year", before she studied at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen with Ulla Miilmann and Toke Lund Christiansen. She has been a soloist several times with, among others, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Norwegian Armed Forces Band Westlandet and Trondheim Soloists. Has been awarded a number of awards and honours, such as Statkraft's "Young Star" award and the Sonning talent scholarship. At the age of 23, she won the position of solo flautist in the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, and since then has also played with major orchestras all over Scandinavia. She now plays on a one-year contract as solo flute at the Opera in Copenhagen.
Liv Barbosa Blad
Film directorLiv Joelle Barbosa Blad (b. 1990, Oslo) is a director and screenwriter. She graduated from Nordland Art and Film School in 2013. Liv has directed a number of short films, the last one, "My sister" won Amanda for best short film in 2017. Liv is currently directing "NUDES", her first series for NRK in collaboration with Barbosa Film and Erika Calmeyer. Liv is a part owner of Barbosa Film, a company that works to elevate female filmmakers and focuses on diversity.
Maria Angelika Carlsen
ViolinistMaria Angelika Carlsen (b. 1988, Nesodden) was employed as concertmaster 2 in the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in autumn 2011 and got a job in the same position in the Kringkastingsorkesteret in August 2014. In the season 17/18 she is back in Stavanger in a temporary position as 1st concertmaster. Maria has been concertmaster and artistic director of Ensemble Allegria since its inception in 2008. She completed her bachelor's degree at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo in the spring of 2011. During this time, she took a residency in Copenhagen and at the Royal Danish Music Conservatory, where she studied with Serguei Azizian. Maria has varied experience as a soloist, the highlights of which have been assignments with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Tromsø Symphony Orchestra, the Norwegian Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra and Ensemble Allegria. Maria Angelika is an active chamber musician, and has played in halls such as Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall (Zankel), the University's Aula and the Conservatoire in Brussels, with chamber music partners such as Martin Fröst, Lars Anders Tomter, Henning Kraggerud, Håvard Gimse, Karen Gomyo and Leif Ove Andsnes. Together with Eva Stalheim, Marthe Husum and Frida Fredrikke Waaler Wærvågen, she plays in the Atem String Quartet. Maria plays a Guiseppe Rocca from 1850, loaned by Dextra Musica.
Maria Eikefet
ViolinistMaria Eikefet (b. 1989, Lindås) is a trained violinist at the Norwegian Academy of Music. She is a versatile musician who after her studies worked as a district musician in Sortland in Vesterålen and gave over 200 concerts in Nordland county with her own productions for piano trio. Maria has been a violinist in Ensemble Allegria since the autumn of 2008, and from 2013 she has also worked as the orchestra's day-to-day manager.
Mariama Slåttøy
DanserMariama Slåttøy (b. 1992, Trondheim) graduated from the Academy of Ballet at the Academy of Arts in Oslo with a bachelor's degree in performing dance. After graduating, she has participated in four productions for Oslo Danse Ensemble where she has worked with the choreographers Jo Strømgren, Subjazz, Fredrik "Benke" Rydman, Toni Ferraz and Ole Martin Meland. She has also toured with the Riksteatret and played in the musicals Chicago at Oslo Nye Teater and Singin' in the Rain at Folketeatret. In addition, she has had a number of dance assignments for various events, TV appearances, and participated in music videos and several film projects.
Nora Elise Augustinius
DancerNora Elise Augustinius (b. 1998, Oslo) has a bachelor's degree in classical ballet and is educated at the Academy of Arts in Oslo and the ballet school at Den Norske Opera og Ballett. From Autumn 2019, she is employed by the National Ballet. She has danced the lead role in "Allegro Brilliante" during the National Ballet UNG's tour in Cannes in 2017, and won first prize in the Nordic Baltic Ballet Competition in 2017. At Den Norske Opera & Ballett, Nora has performed repertoire such as "Minus 16" by Ohad Naharin, "Some see stages" by Cina Espejord and participated in ballets such as "Giselle", "The Nutcracker", "Serenade" and "The Hamlet Complex" by Alan Lucien Øyen. In November 2018, Nora danced the role of Regine in Cina Espejord and Marit Moum Aune's production of "Ghosts - Ibsen's Gengangere" on the National Ballet's tour in Shanghai.
Oddrun Lilja Jonsdottir
GuitaristOddrun Lilja Jonsdottir (b. 1992, Oslo) is guitarist and vocalist in LILJA, Moksha, Bugge Wesseltoft's New Conception of Jazz and Frode Haltli's Avant Folk. She graduated from the Norwegian Academy of Music and has made a name for herself as an authentic, exciting and innovative musician on the Norwegian and international jazz scene. Lilja has toured the world and garnered good reviews at the concerts and recordings she has participated in. She is currently working on the project "LILJA: home to the world", where she has written music inspired by collaborative projects she has done with traditional musicians in ten different countries.
Ole Christian Haagenrud
PianistOle Christian Haagenrud (b. 1989, Oslo) is considered one of the most promising young pianists in Norway. In 2015, he finished the prestigious diploma studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music, where he had Professor Jens Harald Bratlie and Professor Håvard Gimse as his teachers. Ole Christian has won Robert Levin's Festival Prize and a number of other awards. He has played with orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and the Broadcasting Orchestra on several occasions. In addition to solo work, he is a highly sought-after chamber musician and accompanist, and has collaborated with musicians such as Lars Anders Tomter, Henning Kraggerud and Arve Tellefsen. Ole Christian has performed at a large number of festivals in Norway and abroad, and has held concerts on several of the biggest stages in Europe. He had his international debut concert in Concecertgebouw in Amsterdam in 2016.
Sebastian Biong
DancerSebastian Biong (b. 1996, Bærum) is educated at the University of the Arts in Oslo with a bachelor's degree in contemporary dance. Before graduating, he started a freelance job as a dancer at Rom For Dans and for Eivind Seljeseth, and has further worked with the choreographers Roza Moshtaghi and Bente Alice Westgård in 2018/2019
Simon Tillaas
Film directorSwedish-Eritrean Simon Tillaas (b. 1985, Stockholm) is a film director with an education from the Norwegian Film School in Lillehammer. His graduation film Den lille döden won national and international awards, including one of the highest European film awards for film students: the VFF Young Talent Award at The International Festival of Film Schools in Munich.
Tabita Berglund
ConductorTabita Berglund (b. 1989, Trondheim) is studying for a master's degree in conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Prof. Ole Kristian Ruud. She is originally a cellist, and took a master's degree with Prof. Truls Mørk. She is a chamber musician who regularly plays in the Oslo Philharmonic and the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as the Trondheim Soloists. In 2015, she started conducting. She has participated in Bernard Haitink's master class in Lucerne, Jorma Panula's master class in Sønderborg and the Gstaad Conducting Academy with Jaap van Sweden, where she won the Neeme Järvi prize. After auditions with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Tabita was chosen as a candidate for Opptakt. This includes performances with the Gothenburg Symphony, the Oslo Philharmonic, all the symphony orchestras in Norway and the Norwegian Opera.
Thormod Rønning Kvam
PianistThormod Rønning Kvam (b. 1991, Røyken) has in recent years established himself as one of Norway's most promising young pianists. He has played on live broadcasts on radio and TV and has already managed to perform at important concert arenas in Sweden, Russia, Hungary, Italy, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands and England. Has since 2010 also been regularly guided by Jiři Hlínka, Håvard Gimse, Christian Ihle Hadland and Leif Ove Andsnes. Rønning Kvam has for a number of years had a great interest in new creative initiatives and was the artistic director of the Fagerborgfestspillene and RisørUNG before he helped found the Edvard Munch Ensemble in 2015, where he is pianist and administrative manager.
Victoria Putterman
ViolinistThe New York-born Norwegian violinist Victoria Putterman (b. 1992) is educated at The Juilliard School, Barratt Due music institute and Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” in Berlin. She has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in the USA and a number of European countries in prestigious arenas, e.g. Lincoln Center in New York, Wigmore Hall in London, Helsinki Music Center, Festspillene in Bergen, Den Blacke Diamant in Copenhagen and Oslo Concert Hall. As a teenager, she was named first prize winner in the Youth Music Championship (both duo and solo) as well as in international competitions in the Czech Republic and Italy. Since 2007, she has worked closely with Itzhak Perlman after being accepted by his talent program and is regularly invited to concert engagements associated with the program both in the US and other countries. Among other projects, she has been on tour as a soloist with Oslo Camerata in the Mozart Sinfonia concertante together with Henning Kraggerud. In addition to being artistic director and violinist in the Edvard Munch Ensemble, she plays regularly in the Oslo Philharmonic.