NO / EN

NÅ: Boulanger, Bacewicz and Tchaikovsky

For this autumn's first concert at Sentralen in Oslo, we bring music by two of the 20th century's most significant figures in European music life: French Lili Boulanger and Polish Grazyna Bacewicz.

The concert ends with one of our absolute favorite works: Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings. This piece has been with us for many years, and we have performed parts of the music hundreds of times in everything from kindergartens, schools, sports halls, in canteens, at subway stations and in large concert halls for thousands of people. This is a piece of music that we never tire of playing, and we are very much looking forward to sharing it with you again at Sentralen in September!

—-

Program:

Lili Boulanger: Cortége, Nocturne, D'un Jardin Clair and D'un Vieux Jardin

Grazyna Bacewicz: Concerto for string orchestra

Peter I. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings

—-

The doors and bar in the Marmorsalen open at 6.15pm, and the concert starts at 7pm.

The bar is also open after the concert, which lasts about an hour.

NO / EN

NÅ: Boulanger, Bacewicz and Tchaikovsky

In May, the chamber orchestra Ensemble Allegria took over Holmlia, and presented a wide range of music for strings for everything from kindergarten children to seniors. Then the audience got to hear one sample of one of the orchestra's absolute favorite works: Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings.

On 5 September, the orchestra returns to Holmlia, and now you have the opportunity to hear this entire wonderful work, in addition to beautiful tones from two of the 20th century's most significant female composers: Lili Boulanger and Grazyna Bacewicz.

This program will also be played at Sentralen in the center of Oslo on 6 September at 19.00.

Program:

Lili Boulanger: Cortége, Nocturne, D'un Jardin Clair and D'un Vieux Jardin

Grazyna Bacewicz: Concerto for string orchestra

Peter I. Tchaikovsky: Serenade for Strings

—-

The program lasts approx. an hour, and no entrance fee will be charged, but the public is encouraged to pay according to desire and ability to vipps no. #140424

About Ensemble Allegria:

The string orchestra Ensemble Allegria is considered among the country's foremost classical ensembles, and has for the past 16 years thrilled audiences and reviewers with an energetic virtuosity and contagious musical joy. The orchestra is a regular guest at the major classical music festivals, and has over a number of years had a close collaboration with the Norwegian Soloist Choir.

NO/EN

August 12th you can hear Ensemble Allegria in a unique concert at the foot of Rondane on Kvamsfjellet. The internationally renowned percussionist and cymbalist Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen is soloist and musical director and with him on stage, in addition to Ensemble Allegria, he has a star-studded team consisting of Tord Gustavsen on grand piano, Arve Henriksen on trumpet and Dovregubben's daughter herself - Den Grønnkledde from Peer Gynt at Gålå - actor and artist Ameli Isungset Agbota. Last but not least, the heather will be filled with little dancing goblins from Loftet Dansestudio choreographed by Juliane Bay!

- I always seek to bring together people who are inspired by each other and who are looking for challenges together at a top professional level. We have really succeeded in that here!, says Ellen Horn. She will also be a presenter at the concert.

Text from Peergynt.no

Sonoko Miriam Welde is among our foremost young violinists: From when she was a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra as a nine-year-old, via both the Norwegian Soloist Prize, the Virtuoso Competition and the Equinor Scholarship to today's artistic career with solo assignments all over the world, international recognition with the string quartet Opus13 and the role of artistic director for the Winter Festival in Bergstaden on Røros.

We are looking forward to playing together with Sonoko Miriam as soloist and guest conductor when we invite you to the last NÅ concert of the season at Sentralen in Oslo in April.

Program:

Rebecca Clarke: Comodo et amabile

Edvard Grieg: String Quartet in F major, arr. for string orchestra by Alf Årdal

Dmitri Sjostakovitsj: Violin Sonata, version for solo violin, strings and percussion

Welcome!

Artists

Ensemble Allegria
The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir
Grete Pedersen, conductor

New Requiem by Tyler Futrell performed by Allegria and The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir

The church music festival has rarely experienced so much positive, overwhelming and heartfelt feedback as after the premiere of Tyler Futrell's Stabat mater in 2022. Futrell's ability to combine aesthetics and realism, to create something that is intellectually exciting, but above all speaks directly to people's hearts , is unique. We therefore wanted to commission a requiem by Futrell, to be premiered by Ensemble Allegria and the Solist Choir, under the direction of Grete Pedersen. Futrell wanted to use the traditional requiem texts, as well as a number of more modern texts, especially poems by Rolf Jacobsen that were written after he lost his wife. The lyrics deal with death, our relationship with it and what it represents in our lives. Futrell says of his own Requiem:

"I wanted to write a requiem from a humanist perspective, a requiem that speaks to those of us who are left, that reflects the unresolved feelings of loss that many of us carry and try to process. We grieve, we miss, sometimes we're even angry that we've been abandoned, or angry at ourselves for what we didn't do when we still had the opportunity. I use parts of the traditional Latin text and the thematic structure, but at the same time shape it to reflect a grieving process, and mix in various other texts in different languages ​​from different times, to reflect the swirling cloud of ideas around death that we have to deal with. I use these texts to put the audience in more immediate contact with their experiences, something that perhaps thousand-year-old Latin texts about eternal light fail to do - even though that is one of the images that the play has to deal with. Rest is an English translation of requiem (rest), which is what a requiem traditionally asks for on behalf of those who have died, but which is also something the mourners themselves need. In addition, the title can refer to what remains: memories, remains.”

At the concert, the Soloist Choir and Ensemble Allegria will also perform Spem in alium and If ye love me by Thomas Tallis, Tallis Variations by Vaughan Williams and Misericordia Domini, KV 222 by W.A. Mozart.

We are very excited about our first collaboration with the marvellous Swedish violinist Malin Broman, who will be the soloist and guest leader for our first concert in Oslo in 2024.

Malin will play the violin concerto ‘Im Freien’ by swedish composer Britta Byström, in what will be the Norwegian Premiere for this piece.

We also look forward to explore the music of Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara and Johannes Brahms together with Malin.

Program

Britta Byström: Im Freien - Violin concerto (Norwegian premiere)

Einojuhani Rautavaara:  Adagio Celeste

Johannes Brahms: Quintet no. 2 op. 111 (version for string orchestra)

Tickets

Will be released for sale soon!

Malin Broman

Malin Broman is a violinist much in demand as a soloist, artistic director, chamber musician, teacher and orchestral leader.

Since 2008, Malin is Concert Master of the Swedish Radio Orchestra, and she is a very popular guest leader. She has been performing as such with orchestras like London Symphony Orchestra, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra og Chamber Orchestra Orkester i Europa, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Scottish Ensemble, Nordic Chamber Orchestra, Västerås Sinfonietta, Trondheim Soloists, Lapland Chamber Orchestra og ACO Collective (Australia).

In the years 2015-2020 Malin was artistic leader of Musica Vitae Chamber Orchestra, and from 2019 she is also artistic leader of the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra in Finland.

Malin also holds an impressive soloist’s career, with highlights such as performing with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil, BBC Scottish Symphony, Academy of St. Martin-in-the Fields and the Swedish Radio Orchestra. She works with conductors like Neeme Järvi, Andrew Manze and Daniel Harding

It is with great excitement we announce that Ensemble Allegria will be visiting Cartagena Music Festival, Colombia in January 2024. With a total of six main concerts in beatiful venues in the historic city of Cartagena, we will bring the music of Grieg, Sibelius, Svendsen, Nielsen and other nordic composers to the shores of the Caribbean ocean. Together with violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Olli Mustonen, we represent the nordic musical community in one of Latin-America’s biggest classical music festivals.

THE VIOLIN: THE VOICE OF SIBELIUS

Adolfo Meija Theatre - Cartagena, Colombia

Sibelius, with his Humoresque Op. 87 and Op. 89 was faced with the need to reconcile two factors that were difficult to reconcile; on the one hand, the long and illustrious tradition of the Romanticism, in which virtuosity had to find its proper space; on the other, his personal compositional style, in which the idea of neo-primitivism, of sobriety and depth of thought, reflected a claim of cultural identity for Finland. However, the Sibelius Humoresque moves in a substantial balance between these two components, with thematic material of an unmistakably Sibeliusian Nordic atmosphere and with a very demanding violin writing, which establishes a relationship of intimate solidarity with the orchestral team.

ARTISTS

Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, violin

Ingar Bergby, conductor

Ensemble Allegria

Program

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto No. 4 in F minor, Op. 8, RV 297, "Winter"

Kurt Atterberg (1887-1974)
Intermezzo for String Orchestra

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Serenade No. 13 for strings in G major, K. 525 “Eine Kleine Nacht Musik”

—INTERMISSION—

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Andante festivo, Op. 117a
Suite Champetre, op. 98b
Humoresques, op. 87
Humoresques, op. 89

Cartagena Music Festival theme 2024 - Symphony of nature

Myths, landscapes, national identity and modernity in the music of Northern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The choosing of the theme of this edition of the Festival, Symphony of the Nature, pretends to highlight through its programming the main elements of the important musical phenomenon that developed in some countries of northern Europe and that had a huge cultural, social and political transcendence in almost every scandinavian country. In those countries, the emergence of nationalist tendencies coincided with the exceptional cultural and musical blooming that produced pieces of absolute value, master works extremely important in the history of western music. 

The programming nodal point is the Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland’s music of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It will constitute the thread that will help us to capture the affirmation of national characteristics in the production of many important composers, such as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Franz Berwald (Sweden), Carl Nielsen (Denmark), Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnson (Iceland); Jean Sibelius (Finland), among others.

It is with great excitement we announce that Ensemble Allegria will be visiting Cartagena Music Festival, Colombia in January 2024. With a total of six main concerts in beatiful venues in the historic city of Cartagena, we will bring the music of Grieg, Sibelius, Svendsen, Nielsen and other nordic composers to the shores of the Caribbean ocean. Together with violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Olli Mustonen, we represent the nordic musical community in one of Latin-America’s biggest classical music festivals.

IMAGINING NATURE WITH SOUND

Adolfo Meija Theatre - Cartagena, Colombia

Many pieces in the history of music have nature as a referent. Symphonies, symphonic poems, woodland scenes, concertos, sonatas. More than describing nature, music helps to imagine it, to perceive its immanent, mysterious essence. The third movement of Gioacchino Rossini’s String Sonata No. 6 is named “The Storm” as one important reference of this relationship. But the Nordic authors also wanted to capture the majesty of their nature and their homeland. This is the case of the symphonic poem Finlandia by Jean Sibelius.

ARTISTS

Peter Jablonski, piano

Ingar Bergby, conductor

Ensemble Allegria

Program

Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868)
String Sonata No. 6 - 3. Tempesta (Allegro)

Grüner-Hegge (1899-1973)
Elegiac Melody for strings

Wojciech Kilar (1932-2013)
Orawa

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
String symphony no. 2 in D major

—INTERMISSION—

Uuno Klami ( 1900 – 1960)   
Four Finnish Songs for piano and strings. Op 12

Oscar Merikanto (1868 -1924)
Romance Op.12 ( arr. for string Orchestra) 

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Valse triste Op. 44
Finlandia, Op. 26

Cartagena Music Festival theme 2024 - Symphony of nature

Myths, landscapes, national identity and modernity in the music of Northern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The choosing of the theme of this edition of the Festival, Symphony of the Nature, pretends to highlight through its programming the main elements of the important musical phenomenon that developed in some countries of northern Europe and that had a huge cultural, social and political transcendence in almost every scandinavian country. In those countries, the emergence of nationalist tendencies coincided with the exceptional cultural and musical blooming that produced pieces of absolute value, master works extremely important in the history of western music. 

The programming nodal point is the Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland’s music of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It will constitute the thread that will help us to capture the affirmation of national characteristics in the production of many important composers, such as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Franz Berwald (Sweden), Carl Nielsen (Denmark), Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnson (Iceland); Jean Sibelius (Finland), among others.

It is with great excitement we announce that Ensemble Allegria will be visiting Cartagena Music Festival, Colombia in January 2024. With a total of six main concerts in beatiful venues in the historic city of Cartagena, we will bring the music of Grieg, Sibelius, Svendsen, Nielsen and other nordic composers to the shores of the Caribbean ocean. Together with violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Olli Mustonen, we represent the nordic musical community in one of Latin-America’s biggest classical music festivals.

THE SOUND OF NATURE: BAROQUE, CLASSICAL AND MODERN

Capilla del Hotel Sofitel Santa Clara - Cartagena, Colombia

Images of nature approached in different musical styles: Italian baroque, Viennese classical style and 19th century Northern European style. They are variations on the same theme: nature.

ARTISTS

Marianne Beate Kielland, mezzo soprano

Nikita Boriso-Glebsky, violin

Ensemble Allegria

PROGRAM

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)  
Concerto No. 3 in F major, Op. 8, RV 293, "Autumn"

Gustaf Nordqvist (1886-1949)
Jul, jul, strålande jul

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
The Blue Danube

—INTERMISSION—

Niels W. Gade (1817-1890)
Novelletter for strings, op. 53

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957)
Arioso, op. 3

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931)
Little suite for string orchestra, Op. 1

Cartagena Music Festival theme 2024 - Symphony of nature

Myths, landscapes, national identity and modernity in the music of Northern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The choosing of the theme of this edition of the Festival, Symphony of the Nature, pretends to highlight through its programming the main elements of the important musical phenomenon that developed in some countries of northern Europe and that had a huge cultural, social and political transcendence in almost every scandinavian country. In those countries, the emergence of nationalist tendencies coincided with the exceptional cultural and musical blooming that produced pieces of absolute value, master works extremely important in the history of western music. 

The programming nodal point is the Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland’s music of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It will constitute the thread that will help us to capture the affirmation of national characteristics in the production of many important composers, such as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Franz Berwald (Sweden), Carl Nielsen (Denmark), Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnson (Iceland); Jean Sibelius (Finland), among others.

It is with great excitement we announce that Ensemble Allegria will be visiting Cartagena Music Festival, Colombia in January 2024. With a total of six main concerts in beatiful venues in the historic city of Cartagena, we will bring the music of Grieg, Sibelius, Svendsen, Nielsen and other nordic composers to the shores of the Caribbean ocean. Together with violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Olli Mustonen, we represent the nordic musical community in one of Latin-America’s biggest classical music festivals.

HOLBERG: AN ALMOST NEO-CLASSICAL SUITE

Adolfo Meija Theatre - Cartagena, Colombia

Grieg contributed significantly to the recognition and dissemination of Norwegian folk music in Europe. In his music, the composer managed to express the most intimate feelings with freshness of images and naturalness of harmonic language. This sense almost predicted, at times, certain modern musical solutions and tendencies, especially impressionistic and neoclassical. In the case of the Holberg Suite in which the neoclassical tendency is evident.

ARTISTS

Eldbjørg Hemsing, violin

Santiago Cañón Valencia, cello

Ingar Bergby, conductor

Ensemble Allegria

Program

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 8, RV 315, "Summer"

Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)
Cello Concerto No. 1 in C major, Hob. VIIb/1

—INTERMISSION—

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)   
Holberg Suite, op. 40

Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Norwegian Rhapsody No.1, Op.17

Cartagena Music Festival theme 2024 - Symphony of nature

Myths, landscapes, national identity and modernity in the music of Northern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The choosing of the theme of this edition of the Festival, Symphony of the Nature, pretends to highlight through its programming the main elements of the important musical phenomenon that developed in some countries of northern Europe and that had a huge cultural, social and political transcendence in almost every scandinavian country. In those countries, the emergence of nationalist tendencies coincided with the exceptional cultural and musical blooming that produced pieces of absolute value, master works extremely important in the history of western music. 

The programming nodal point is the Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland’s music of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It will constitute the thread that will help us to capture the affirmation of national characteristics in the production of many important composers, such as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Franz Berwald (Sweden), Carl Nielsen (Denmark), Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnson (Iceland); Jean Sibelius (Finland), among others.

It is with great excitement we announce that Ensemble Allegria will be visiting Cartagena Music Festival, Colombia in January 2024. With a total of six main concerts in beatiful venues in the historic city of Cartagena, we will bring the music of Grieg, Sibelius, Svendsen, Nielsen and other nordic composers to the shores of the Caribbean ocean. Together with violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Olli Mustonen, we represent the nordic musical community in one of Latin-America’s biggest classical music festivals.

GRIEG’S MUSIC: BETWEEN LATE ROMANTICISM AND MODERNITY

Adolfo Meija Theatre - Cartagena, Colombia

ARTISTS

Eldbjørg Hemsing, violin

Maria Angelika Carlsen, violin

Marianne Beate Kielland, mezzo soprano

Ingar Bergby, conductor

Ensemble Allegria

Program

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Peer Gynt Suite no. 1, Op. 46
Peer Gynt Suite no. 2, op. 55
Solveig’s Song from the Peer Gynt Suite no. 2, op. 55

—INTERMISSION—

Hjalmar Borgstrøm (1864-1925)
Violin Concerto in G Major, Op. 25 - Allegro Moderato

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)
Norwegian Dances, Op. 35 No. 2

Johan Svendsen (1840-1911)
Romanza for violin and string orchestra, Op. 26

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)   
Norwegian Dances, Op. 35 no. 3
Two nordic melodies for string orchestra, Op. 63 (Selection)
Norwegian Dances, Op. 35 no.1

Cartagena Music Festival theme 2024 - Symphony of nature

Myths, landscapes, national identity and modernity in the music of Northern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The choosing of the theme of this edition of the Festival, Symphony of the Nature, pretends to highlight through its programming the main elements of the important musical phenomenon that developed in some countries of northern Europe and that had a huge cultural, social and political transcendence in almost every scandinavian country. In those countries, the emergence of nationalist tendencies coincided with the exceptional cultural and musical blooming that produced pieces of absolute value, master works extremely important in the history of western music. 

The programming nodal point is the Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland’s music of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It will constitute the thread that will help us to capture the affirmation of national characteristics in the production of many important composers, such as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Franz Berwald (Sweden), Carl Nielsen (Denmark), Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnson (Iceland); Jean Sibelius (Finland), among others.

It is with great excitement we announce that Ensemble Allegria will be visiting Cartagena Music Festival, Colombia in January 2024. With a total of six main concerts in beatiful venues in the historic city of Cartagena, we will bring the music of Grieg, Sibelius, Svendsen, Nielsen and other nordic composers to the shores of the Caribbean ocean. Together with violinist Eldbjørg Hemsing, mezzosoprano Marianne Beate Kielland and pianist Olli Mustonen, we represent the nordic musical community in one of Latin-America’s biggest classical music festivals.

OPENING CONCERT 2024 : NATURAL COLORS OF MUSIC

Adolfo Meija Theatre - Cartagena, Colombia

ARTISTS

Eldbjørg Hemsing, violin

Olli Mustonen, piano

Ingar Bergby, conductor

Ensemble Allegria

Program

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) | Italy
Concerto No. 1 in E major, Op. 8, RV 269, "Spring"

Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) | Denmark
Bøhmisk-dansk Folketone, paraphrase for string orchestra

Lars-Erik Larsson (1908-1986) | Sweden
Little Serenade for string orchestra Op. 12

Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) | Finland
Suite for Violin and Strings in D Minor, Op. 117

— INTERMISSION —

Edvard Grieg (1843-1907) | Norway
Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

Cartagena Music Festival theme 2024 - Symphony of nature

Myths, landscapes, national identity and modernity in the music of Northern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries

The choosing of the theme of this edition of the Festival, Symphony of the Nature, pretends to highlight through its programming the main elements of the important musical phenomenon that developed in some countries of northern Europe and that had a huge cultural, social and political transcendence in almost every scandinavian country. In those countries, the emergence of nationalist tendencies coincided with the exceptional cultural and musical blooming that produced pieces of absolute value, master works extremely important in the history of western music. 

The programming nodal point is the Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Finland’s music of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. It will constitute the thread that will help us to capture the affirmation of national characteristics in the production of many important composers, such as Edvard Grieg (Norway), Franz Berwald (Sweden), Carl Nielsen (Denmark), Sveinbjörn Sveinbjörnson (Iceland); Jean Sibelius (Finland), among others.

Ensemble Allegria are proud to participate in the magical Christmas concert for OBOS at the Opera house in Oslo, together with soloists and choirs from the Norwegian Opera.

There will be four performances on December 10th and 17th.

This Opera Gala is exclusively for OBOS’ members, and allows every member to buy up to four tickets each. Tickets are sold by OBOS:

Ensemble Allegria are proud to participate in the magical Christmas concert for OBOS at the Opera house in Oslo, together with soloists and choirs from the Norwegian Opera.

There will be four performances on December 10th and 17th.

This Opera Gala is exclusively for OBOS’ members, and allows every member to buy up to four tickets each. Tickets are sold by OBOS:

Ensemble Allegria are proud to participate in the magical Christmas concert for OBOS at the Opera house in Oslo, together with soloists and choirs from the Norwegian Opera.

There will be four performances on December 10th and 17th.

This Opera Gala is exclusively for OBOS’ members, and allows every member to buy up to four tickets each. Tickets are sold by OBOS:

Ensemble Allegria are proud to participate in the magical Christmas concert for OBOS at the Opera house in Oslo, together with soloists and choirs from the Norwegian Opera.

There will be four performances on December 10th and 17th.

This Opera Gala is exclusively for OBOS’ members, and allows every member to buy up to four tickets each. Tickets are sold by OBOS:

Three weeks before Christmas, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir sets out on its Christmas tour, which has become a cherished tradition for many. This year's Christmas concerts are topped off with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and fiddle player Gjermund Larsen!

Together they will perform highlights from the choir's critically acclaimed Christmas records Rós and Veni – Songs of Christmas. Norwegian folk tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies, which are performed in a way that innovates and makes the familiar fresh!

In addition to being a virtuoso fiddler, Gjermund Larsen is an outstanding composer, and several of his pieces and arrangements will be performed at this year's Christmas concert.

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria have worked closely together for many years and shaped a distinctive sound and interplay that simply has to be experienced! They have been awarded the Spellemannprisen, the Critics' Prize and the high-hanging Diapason D'Or for their collaborations.

The concerts are led by Grete Pedersen, the Soloist Choir’s artistic director and conductor for over 30 years.

Concerts

04.12 - Lillehammer Church - 19.00

05.12 - Jeløya Church (Moss) - 19.00

06.12 - Sandefjord Church - 19.00

07.12 - Holmlia Church (Oslo) - 19.00

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 18.00 - sold out!

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 20.30 - Extra concert!

Three weeks before Christmas, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir sets out on its Christmas tour, which has become a cherished tradition for many. This year's Christmas concerts are topped off with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and fiddle player Gjermund Larsen!

Together they will perform highlights from the choir's critically acclaimed Christmas records Rós and Veni – Songs of Christmas. Norwegian folk tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies, which are performed in a way that innovates and makes the familiar fresh!

In addition to being a virtuoso fiddler, Gjermund Larsen is an outstanding composer, and several of his pieces and arrangements will be performed at this year's Christmas concert.

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria have worked closely together for many years and shaped a distinctive sound and interplay that simply has to be experienced! They have been awarded the Spellemannprisen, the Critics' Prize and the high-hanging Diapason D'Or for their collaborations.

The concerts are led by Grete Pedersen, the Soloist Choir’s artistic director and conductor for over 30 years.

Concerts

04.12 - Lillehammer Church - 19.00

05.12 - Jeløya Church (Moss) - 19.00

06.12 - Sandefjord Church - 19.00

07.12 - Holmlia Church (Oslo) - 19.00

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 18.00 - sold out!

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 20.30 - Extra concert!

Three weeks before Christmas, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir sets out on its Christmas tour, which has become a cherished tradition for many. This year's Christmas concerts are topped off with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and fiddle player Gjermund Larsen!

Together they will perform highlights from the choir's critically acclaimed Christmas records Rós and Veni – Songs of Christmas. Norwegian folk tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies, which are performed in a way that innovates and makes the familiar fresh!

In addition to being a virtuoso fiddler, Gjermund Larsen is an outstanding composer, and several of his pieces and arrangements will be performed at this year's Christmas concert.

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria have worked closely together for many years and shaped a distinctive sound and interplay that simply has to be experienced! They have been awarded the Spellemannprisen, the Critics' Prize and the high-hanging Diapason D'Or for their collaborations.

The concerts are led by Grete Pedersen, the Soloist Choir’s artistic director and conductor for over 30 years.

Concerts

04.12 - Lillehammer Church - 19.00

05.12 - Jeløya Church (Moss) - 19.00

06.12 - Sandefjord Church - 19.00

07.12 - Holmlia Church (Oslo) - 19.00

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 18.00 - sold out!

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 20.30 - Extra concert!

Three weeks before Christmas, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir sets out on its Christmas tour, which has become a cherished tradition for many. This year's Christmas concerts are topped off with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and fiddle player Gjermund Larsen!

Together they will perform highlights from the choir's critically acclaimed Christmas records Rós and Veni – Songs of Christmas. Norwegian folk tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies, which are performed in a way that innovates and makes the familiar fresh!

In addition to being a virtuoso fiddler, Gjermund Larsen is an outstanding composer, and several of his pieces and arrangements will be performed at this year's Christmas concert.

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria have worked closely together for many years and shaped a distinctive sound and interplay that simply has to be experienced! They have been awarded the Spellemannprisen, the Critics' Prize and the high-hanging Diapason D'Or for their collaborations.

The concerts are led by Grete Pedersen, the Soloist Choir’s artistic director and conductor for over 30 years.

Concerts

04.12 - Lillehammer Church - 19.00

05.12 - Jeløya Church (Moss) - 19.00

06.12 - Sandefjord Church - 19.00

07.12 - Holmlia Church (Oslo) - 19.00

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 18.00 - sold out!

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 20.30 - Extra concert!

Three weeks before Christmas, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir sets out on its Christmas tour, which has become a cherished tradition for many. This year's Christmas concerts are topped off with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and fiddle player Gjermund Larsen!

Together they will perform highlights from the choir's critically acclaimed Christmas records Rós and Veni – Songs of Christmas. Norwegian folk tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies, which are performed in a way that innovates and makes the familiar fresh!

In addition to being a virtuoso fiddler, Gjermund Larsen is an outstanding composer, and several of his pieces and arrangements will be performed at this year's Christmas concert.

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria have worked closely together for many years and shaped a distinctive sound and interplay that simply has to be experienced! They have been awarded the Spellemannprisen, the Critics' Prize and the high-hanging Diapason D'Or for their collaborations.

The concerts are led by Grete Pedersen, the Soloist Choir’s artistic director and conductor for over 30 years.

Concerts

04.12 - Lillehammer Church - 19.00

05.12 - Jeløya Church (Moss) - 19.00

06.12 - Sandefjord Church - 19.00

07.12 - Holmlia Church (Oslo) - 19.00

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 18.00 - sold out!

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 20.30 - Extra concert!

Three weeks before Christmas, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir sets out on its Christmas tour, which has become a cherished tradition for many. This year's Christmas concerts are topped off with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and fiddle player Gjermund Larsen!

Together they will perform highlights from the choir's critically acclaimed Christmas records Rós and Veni – Songs of Christmas. Norwegian folk tunes are intertwined with well-known Christmas melodies, which are performed in a way that innovates and makes the familiar fresh!

In addition to being a virtuoso fiddler, Gjermund Larsen is an outstanding composer, and several of his pieces and arrangements will be performed at this year's Christmas concert.

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria have worked closely together for many years and shaped a distinctive sound and interplay that simply has to be experienced! They have been awarded the Spellemannprisen, the Critics' Prize and the high-hanging Diapason D'Or for their collaborations.

The concerts are led by Grete Pedersen, the Soloist Choir’s artistic director and conductor for over 30 years.

Concerts

04.12 - Lillehammer Church - 19.00

05.12 - Jeløya Church (Moss) - 19.00

06.12 - Sandefjord Church - 19.00

07.12 - Holmlia Church (Oslo) - 19.00

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 18.00 - sold out!

8.12 - Universitetets Aula (Oslo) 20.30 - Extra concert!

Two of Norway’s finest ensembles; Ensemble Allegria and Oslo Kammerakademi unite in a superb orchestral collaboration, performing Mendelssohn’s 4th symphony in November.

The wind ensemble Oslo Kammerakademi and the string orchestra Ensemble Allegria have both specialized in playing without conductors for years. Their outstanding artistic leaders, oboist David Friedemann Strunck and violinist Maria Angelika Carlsen enable their fellow musicians to play chamber music in a grand format: They create an environment where every single musician is really important, like participants in a great conversation, shifting between leading and following each other.

The two ensembles started their journey together in 2021, performing Brahms’ magnificent Serenade no. 1. This year, they dive into another master piece: Felix Mendelssohn’s fourth symphony in A major, also known as ‘the italian’. It is among Mendelssohn’s most popular pieces, and he started composing this when he was on a trip to Italia. From his letter home to his father, we can clearly see his excitement, which is very much present in this vital piece of music:

This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought ... to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it. Today was so rich that now, in the evening, I must collect myself a little, and so I am writing to you to thank you, dear parents, for having given me all this happiness.

In February he wrote from Rome to his sister Fanny:

The Italian symphony is making great progress. It will be the jolliest piece I have ever done, especially the last movement.

American composer Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) wrote her piece Entr’ Acte after hearing Joseph Haydn’s string quartet Op. 77 no. 2. She was so mezmerised by the transtition from the menuet to the trio that she wrote a whole piece based on that specific moment. This piece will be performed in a version for string orchestra by Ensemble Allegria.

In the Oslo concert, november 19th, Oslo Kammerakademi will give the first perfomance of the brand new piece ‘Errante’ by Henrik Hellstenius. This piece is heavily inspired by Richard Strauss’ ‘Metamorphosen’

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Rondino i Ess-dur (only November 18th)

Henrik Hellstenius (f. 1963): Errante (2023) for wind octet and double bass (world premiere november 19th)

Caroline Shaw (f. 1982): Entr'acte (2011) for strykeorkester
Felix Mendelssohn (1809—1847): Symfoni nr. 4, op. 90 i A-dur "Den italienske"

Tickets 18.11

Tickets will be sold by the entrance of Ski nye kirke.

NOK 200, children under 16: free entrance

Tickets 19.11

Two of Norway’s finest ensembles; Ensemble Allegria and Oslo Kammerakademi unite in a superb orchestral collaboration, performing Mendelssohn’s 4th symphony in November.

The wind ensemble Oslo Kammerakademi and the string orchestra Ensemble Allegria have both specialized in playing without conductors for years. Their outstanding artistic leaders, oboist David Friedemann Strunck and violinist Maria Angelika Carlsen enable their fellow musicians to play chamber music in a grand format: They create an environment where every single musician is really important, like participants in a great conversation, shifting between leading and following each other.

The two ensembles started their journey together in 2021, performing Brahms’ magnificent Serenade no. 1. This year, they dive into another master piece: Felix Mendelssohn’s fourth symphony in A major, also known as ‘the italian’. It is among Mendelssohn’s most popular pieces, and he started composing this when he was on a trip to Italia. From his letter home to his father, we can clearly see his excitement, which is very much present in this vital piece of music:

This is Italy! And now has begun what I have always thought ... to be the supreme joy in life. And I am loving it. Today was so rich that now, in the evening, I must collect myself a little, and so I am writing to you to thank you, dear parents, for having given me all this happiness.

In February he wrote from Rome to his sister Fanny:

The Italian symphony is making great progress. It will be the jolliest piece I have ever done, especially the last movement.

American composer Caroline Shaw (b. 1982) wrote her piece Entr’ Acte after hearing Joseph Haydn’s string quartet Op. 77 no. 2. She was so mezmerised by the transtition from the menuet to the trio that she wrote a whole piece based on that specific moment. This piece will be performed in a version for string orchestra by Ensemble Allegria.

In the Oslo concert, november 19th, Oslo Kammerakademi will give the first perfomance of the brand new piece ‘Errante’ by Henrik Hellstenius. This piece is heavily inspired by Richard Strauss’ ‘Metamorphosen’

Program

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Rondino i Ess-dur (only November 18th)

Henrik Hellstenius (f. 1963): Errante (2023) for wind octet and double bass (world premiere november 19th)

Caroline Shaw (f. 1982): Entr'acte (2011) for strykeorkester
Felix Mendelssohn (1809—1847): Symfoni nr. 4, op. 90 i A-dur "Den italienske"

Tickets 18.11

Tickets will be sold by the entrance of Ski nye kirke.

NOK 200, children under 16: free entrance

Tickets 19.11

NO/EN

August 12th you can hear Ensemble Allegria in a unique concert at the foot of Rondane on Kvamsfjellet. The internationally renowned percussionist and cymbalist Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen is soloist and musical director and with him on stage, in addition to Ensemble Allegria, he has a star-studded team consisting of Tord Gustavsen on grand piano, Arve Henriksen on trumpet and Dovregubben's daughter herself - Den Grønnkledde from Peer Gynt at Gålå - actor and artist Ameli Isungset Agbota. Last but not least, the heather will be filled with little dancing goblins from Loftet Dansestudio choreographed by Juliane Bay!

- I always seek to bring together people who are inspired by each other and who are looking for challenges together at a top professional level. We have really succeeded in that here!, says Ellen Horn. She will also be a presenter at the concert.

Text from Peergynt.no

NO/EN

This evening we’re in for a culture crash. Erlend Skomsvoll wrote the work Clashes for Ensemble Allegria in 2015 during a great migrant influx, and the work was premiered at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. For Clashes we have the sparkling Ida Hidle as accordion soloist. Afterwards, we allow the huldra to visit us through Trygve Brøske’s Huldreslåt, before lions and elephants, fish, donkeys, the cuckoo and not least the most beautiful swan visit our concert: Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals is very well known to many of us. We predict a fresh, catchy and perhaps unexpected version with some of Norway’s leading chamber musicians.

Program:

Erlend Skomsvoll (1969–): Clashes

Trygve Brøske (1973–): Huldreslått for solo akkordeon

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921): Carnival of the Animals

Musicians:
Gustav Rørmark, fiolin
Miriam Helms Ålien, fiolin
Juliet Jopling, bratsj
Louisa Tuck, cello
Anders Rove, bass
Annaleena Jämsä, fløyte
Pierre Xhonneux, klarinett
Nils Mortensen, klaver
Wolfgang Plagge, klaver
Ida Hidle, akkordeon
Eirik Raude, slagverk
Ensemble Allegria

Text from oslokammermusikkfestival.no

NO / EN

Ensemble Allegria, The Oslo Chamber Academy, The Norwegian Solist Choir and conductor Grete Pedersen, open the Oslo Chamber Music Festival 2023 in Universitetets Aula

Program

Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) - A Midsummer Night's Dream

A wonderful adventure, fairies and elves in the forest, love, magic and humour. The country's best female voices, string players and wind players, one of Europe's foremost choral conductors and, not least, a storyteller with wit, humor and power from the high north! With all this and more, we open this year's Oslo Chamber Music Festival with a bang in Universitetets Aula.

Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream is his best-known scene music, and perhaps the most famous is the overture (he wrote it when he was 17) and the wedding march from it. He captures in the work the romantic fairy-tale atmosphere in a fabulous way, the one that Shakespeare provides in his text. But Shakespeare's English play text has this time been translated into Northern Norwegian in an earlier translation by Ragnar Olsen.

This is the plot in a couple of sentences: Four Athenians, two women and two men, escape into the forest. There they are bewitched by the elf Puck, who makes the two men fall in love with the same woman. The four chase each other through the forest while Puck helps his master Oberon make a small gesture towards the fairy queen Titania. It all ends with Puck breaking the spell, and the two couples become friends again and get married.

Welcome to the festival opening!

Text from https://oslokammermusikkfestival.no/det-var-en-gang-en-midtsommernattsdrom/

NO / EN

Cellist Amalie Stalheim (b. 1993) was launched as a Rising star by BBC Music Magazine in the spring of 2022, and she is one of the Nordic countries' most promising young musicians. She is the winner of both the Norwegian Soloist Prize (2021) and the Royal Academy of Music's Soloist Prize (2018).

Amalie is a regular soloist with the major Nordic symphony orchestras, and in addition to excelling in the classical cello repertoire, in recent years she has done an impressive job commissioning and performing a total of 6 new concertos for cello and orchestra.

We are incredibly happy to have Amalie with us as a soloist in this year's season finale!

PROGRAM

Sallinen: Nocturnal dances of Don Quixote

Bloch: From Jewish Life

Bartok: Divertimento for strykere

The main work of the concert will be Bela Bartók's Divertimento for strings. This is among Ensemble Allegria's favorite works, and our recording of the work at LAWO Classics was nominated for the Spellemann Prize in 2015. The recording garnered a number of good reviews, including from Kjell Hillveg in Dagsavisen:

“Oh, what an obsessive musing!

What characterizes Ensemble Allegria's music is a crazy energy, which does not drown out the whole, but which only adds an extra dimension to the performances. They are always in full control of the many tempo changes. The interaction is close, but they don't lose their playfulness."

NO / EN

Experience Ludwig van Beethoven at his very best!

THE FAITH IN HUMANITY AND THE UNIFYING POWER OF MUSIC

Together with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and conductor Grete Pedersen, the Solo Choir performs the magnificent Missa Solemnis - the work Beethoven himself referred to as his very best.

In the Missa Solemnis, it is Beethoven's fundamental belief in the unifying power of music that shines through. It is not religious humility that is conveyed, but faith in humanity. The work is deeply personal and in the score he writes: "From the heart - may it again - go to the heart".

Work on the Missa Solemnis began in 1819. Beethoven had great ambitions and wanted to complete the work for a solemn occasion the following year. But it quickly became more demanding than what the composer had imagined and the Missa Solemnis was not completed until four years later.

The Missa Solemnis is performed here in Joachim Linckelmann's edited chamber version with fewer wind instruments than in the original score. The piece makes such great demands on the performers that it is performed undeservedly rarely.

NO / EN

Experience Ludwig van Beethoven at his very best!

THE FAITH IN HUMANITY AND THE UNIFYING POWER OF MUSIC

Together with outstanding musicians in Ensemble Allegria and conductor Grete Pedersen, the Solo Choir performs the magnificent Missa Solemnis - the work Beethoven himself referred to as his very best.

In the Missa Solemnis, it is Beethoven's fundamental belief in the unifying power of music that shines through. It is not religious humility that is conveyed, but faith in humanity. The work is deeply personal and in the score he writes: "From the heart - may it again - go to the heart".

Work on the Missa Solemnis began in 1819. Beethoven had great ambitions and wanted to complete the work for a solemn occasion the following year. But it quickly became more demanding than what the composer had imagined and the Missa Solemnis was not completed until four years later.

The Missa Solemnis is performed here in Joachim Linckelmann's edited chamber version with fewer wind instruments than in the original score. The piece makes such great demands on the performers that it is performed undeservedly rarely.