ArtEx participants

ArtEx participants 2026-2027

Aurora Ivin

Dance artist

Aurora is a focused and passionate dance artist with a strong artistic voice and a background in a wide range of styles. She began with freestyle disco jazz at the age of 10 and has since distinguished herself both nationally and internationally in jazz and contemporary dance, performing as a soloist and in ensembles.

Aurora holds multiple Norwegian championship titles, as well as international finalist and silver placements. Already at 14, she began traveling to train with leading choreographers and has also served as an assistant at international dance camps.

At 17, she committed fully to her art. In spring 2023, having been accepted both as an early-stage student at KHIO Jazz and into a program in the USA, she chose to move across the Atlantic. During the intensive 10-month program at the CLI Conservatory in Massachusetts, she gained deep exposure to the art form and the discipline of dance through a rigorous curriculum. She trained with renowned choreographers, participated in live auditions, and built a strong international network that she continues to collaborate with today.

Aurora works as a freelance dance artist, choreographer, and educator. With particular strength in contemporary dance, and an interdisciplinary perspective that also includes singing and theatre, she is committed to developing her artistic practice both nationally and internationally. She constantly seeks opportunities to grow and explore how the whole—body, movement, and expression—interacts in dance.

Photo: Agnet Brun

Damien Ajavon

Textile artist

Damien Ajavon (they/them) is a textile artist from Paris, living and working in Norway. Their practice explores personal and cultural narratives through the transformative and mutable qualities of textiles, driven by a desire to merge cultures into new forms. Rooted in African and Western traditions and queer communities, Ajavon’s work bridges generations of African craftsmanship with diasporic and transoceanic perspectives. Through tactile manipulation of textile fibers, their process is deeply influenced by visual and sensory experience. 
Ajavon holds an MA in Textile from the National Academy of the Arts in Oslo. Their work has been shown in solo and group exhibitions and residencies across Europe, North America, and Africa, including Oslo Kunstforening, Spriten Kunsthall, Fotogalleriet, Future Fair (New York), MK&G Messe (Hamburg), and Tensta Kunsthall. In 2025, they presented solo projects at Kunsthall Oslo, cc-tapis (Milan), and the Hannah Ryggen Triennale. Their work is held in public collections, including those of the City of Oslo and KpA, and features a major public commission by KORO. 

Photo: Agnete Brun

Daniel Grindeland

Dance artist specializing in breaking

Daniel Grindeland is known for his extreme dynamics, strong stage presence, and his ability to create experiences that both entertain and move audiences.

In 2025, Daniel represented Norway as a dancer at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel. He won Mitt Dansecrew on TV 2 with Absence and Fingern, and achieved second place in Norske Talenter.

Daniel has also distinguished himself nationally and internationally in competitive contexts. He has been ranked 8th in the world, holds multiple Norwegian championship titles, achieved 4th place at the European Championships, and 12th place at the World Championships.

He has twice been named Dancer of the Year by the Norwegian Dance Federation and has received both the Sports Honor Award from Øygarden Municipality and a professional grant from the Norwegian Dancers’ Association, recognizing his artistic integrity and strong professional foundation. He is also a proud MOT ambassador.

Photo: Agnete Brun

Elisabeth Kvithyll

Film and tv producer

Photo: Agnete Brun

Ellen Marta Jerstad

Interdisciplinary performing artist

Emily Adomah Adjei

Singer, composer, and producer

Hxnning David Williams

Rapartist

Hxnning David Williams (they/them) is from Vadsø and made their debut, in the spirit of punk, as a rap artist under the name H*nning during the protest against mine tailings disposal in Repparfjord in 2021. With more than six years of experience in the humanitarian sector and a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Industries Management from BI Norwegian Business School, Hxnning is concerned with understanding the interplay between systems and culture. They have previously worked with photography and digital art, and have exhibited the work An Observation of Security at the National Museum of Norway.

As a songwriter and music producer in the rap duo Tushie Riot, Hxnning explores themes of gender, body, belonging, sexuality, community, and resistance. Hnning is also part of the Oslo-based creative collective Lugaren, which has received coverage in several music magazines and was listed as “Best Right Now” by NRK P3. In autumn 2025, Hnning released their debut album HEXA—an operating system for raising awareness around technology, Norwegianization, and doomscrolling. The press described the project as “a manifesto for a new digital age, and a hard blow to everything we associate with Norwegian hip hop in 2025.” With this release, H*nning established themself as the godmother of Norwegian cyberpunk—a musical genre fusing experimental hip hop, noise, and club music.

Photo: Agnete Brun

Karrar Al-Azzawi

Filmmaker and photographer

Levina Storåkern

Musician and songwriter

Levina Storåkern (b. 1998) grew up in Mölndal, Sweden, but has for many years been based and active in Norway. She works primarily as a musician and songwriter, both solo and as a member of the bands Ævestaden and Diket. Swedish and Norwegian folk music constitute a significant part of her musical background, but in recent years her artistic practice has taken a clearer direction towards text and songwriting. 

Storåkern holds a bachelor’s degree in Norwegian traditional music and a master’s degree from the Free Master’s Programme at the Norwegian Academy of Music. The master’s degree consisted of a songwriting project focused on different ways of combining text and music. In addition, she has studied creative writing at the Bergen Academy of Creative Writing. In early summer 2025, she released her first solo album Månadsvill, which received a positive reception. 

Photo: Agnete Brun

Liam Monzer Alzafari

Artist and scenographer

Liam Monzer Alzafari is an artist and scenographer based in Oslo. He holds a Master’s degree in Scenography from the Academy of Performing Arts in Fredrikstad and a Bachelor’s degree from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus. His artistic practice understands scenography as a form of interpretation and re-assembly—an act that reorganizes and negotiates existing spaces. Inspired by political, satirical, and associative elements of Middle Eastern popular culture, such as the tales of Nasreddin Hodja, his work explores how scenography can reveal power relations within theatre and public life. Alzafari presented work in the Levant until 2015, and subsequently in Norway, Switzerland, Catalonia, the Czech Republic, and Bangladesh. 

His practice spans scenography for contemporary dance, collaborating with artists and companies such as Panta Rei Dance Theatre, Mia Habib, and Carl Joseph Aquilizan; spatial work for musicians including Anja Lauvdal and Suzanne Ciani; and exhibition design for artists such as Karen Kipphoff and Ayman Alazraq. He also initiates spaces for other artists, notably through the digital residency and networking project artist2artist.no and the archival entity PalNor. As a “multispace poet,” he moves between theatre, dance, music, archives, and exhibitions, driven by an anchoring in a personal reality rich in fiction—yet never lacking imagination or borders to cross.

ArtEx participants 2025-2026

Aurora Itland

Dancer and actress

Aurora Itland is a graduate of Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO), and works within the field of dance and choreography. She is based in Oslo, Norway, working nationally and internationally. Her artistic practice spans from performing in works by others, creating her own work to collaborative creations. As a performer Itland has been working with different groups and choreographers such as Ina Christel Johannessen, Panta Rei Danseteater, Inger Cecilie Bertran de Lis / ICB Productions, Jon Ole Olstad, Sofie Christiansen / sART danseteater (DK) and Byström/Källblad (SE), in addition to performing close to 200 performances in Folketeateret. Itland’s choreographic interest is expansive and can materialize within a wide range of expressions. Her main artistic objective is creating rooms for understanding and empathy through choreographic works. On a societal level, she is motivated by making dance more accessible, both geographically and economically. Her artistic work explores and challenges dance's capacity to express and communicate complex stories through movement. 

Photo: Agnet Brun

 

 

Badrudin Ga´ur

Screenwriter and director

Badrudin Ga’ur (34) is a Norwegian/Somali screenwriter and director based in Oslo. He grew up in Mogadishu during the civil war and moved to Norway in 2013. He graduated from Kristiania University College’s Film and TV program, specializing in directing, in 2022. Since then, he has written an original miniseries for Altibox. In 2023, he received NFI and Viken funding for a short film with Ferdí Film and was selected for the Nordic Film and TV Fund’s script development program in Oslo, Gothenburg, and Helsinki with a feature film project. He participated in Series Mania and HBO Max’s Writers’ Campus in Lille, France, where he pitched an original drama series. He also won the Nye Stemmer pitch competition at Seriedagene Oslo in 2024. Currently, he is developing a psychological thriller and a political thriller with Nordisk Film and NRK, respectively. His stories often explore immigration, identity, and perspective, shaped by his own experiences.

Photo: Agnete Brun

 

Claudia Cox

Interdisciplinary performing artist: theatre, composition, movement, performance

Claudia Cox grew up in east coast Australia and is now a multidisciplinary artist, composer, and theater creator, as well as one half of the multidisciplinary artist duo ONLY SLIME with Tobi Pfeil. Throughout her career, she has challenged the boundaries of music, theater, acrobatics, digital art, and game design. Starting as an acrobat and violinist at the age of two, she toured internationally as a violinist before breaking away from established aesthetic frameworks to carve her own artistic path. Her unique artistic perspective is reflected in boundary-pushing works such as AFTERLIFE, a motion-capture game opera about death that is touring internationally, and BLACK MAGIC, which recently toured Colombia. Cox is also a founding member of The Freestyle Orchestra, a Vienna-based collective combining classical music and circus. She has performed at prestigious venues including Wiener Festwochen, the Venice Biennale at the Australian Pavilion, and the Sydney Opera House. In 2025, Cox will undertake a residency at SCENE 3 at Det Norske Teatret, a project led in collaboration with ONLY SLIME and Tani Dibasey. Featuring six new productions and a vision to engage global audiences, she seeks to expand her artistic practice with the support of Artex. 

Photo: Agnete Brun

Even Eileraas

Even Eileraas is a dance artist from Haugesund with a bachelor's degree in dance from Oslo National Academy of the Arts. He primarily works with contemporary dance in interdisciplinary projects where movement is a meeting point between theater, live music, clothing design, and film. He has collaborated with choreographers such as Damien Jalet, Ingri Fiksdal, Roza Moshtaghi, and Janne-Camilla Lyster, and he is also affiliated with project-based dance companies like Nagelhus Schia Productions and Kompani Haugesund. In 2021 Even received Rogaland County Cultural Grant for Performing Arts, which allowed him to participate in the International Visa Program at Gibney Dance in New York. In 2024, he was awarded the Norwegian Government Artist Grant, supporting his continued work in Norwegian contemporary dance. 

Photo: Agnete Brun

Jørgen Færøy

Screenwriter

Jørgen Færøy (b. 1991) is a Norwegian screenwriter working in Oslo. He has studied drama at Biskops Arnö in Stockholm and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Norwegian Film School. The same year he graduated, his exam film GENERATION MARS became a finalist for a student-Oscar. He has since then written for both TV-drama and feature films, among others, NUDES for Norwegian broadcaster NRK P3, which won a Golden Screen for best youth fiction. It has also been shown in various contries across Europe, like BBC3 in Great Britain, and has been re-made in Canada, Spain and Italy. 
The feature film MY WONDERFUL STRANGER, which he co-wrote with director Johanna Pyykkö, premiered in the spring of 2024. Another feature that he wrote on, SOLOMAMMA, is currently in production.

Photo: Agnete Brun

 

Linda Morell

Visual artist

Linda Morell (b. 1993, Halmstad) is a Bergen-based artist who primarily works with sculpture and installation. In her exhibitions the works often form theatrical spaces for speculative fictions inspired by history of ideas and myths. Based on interpretations of current and historical theories about bodies and ecologies, she creates works in various materials such as ceramics, metal, glass, and plastic. Morell graduated with a master's degree in visual arts from the Faculty of Art, Music, and Design at the University of Bergen in 2019 and holds a bachelor's degree from Konsthögskolan in Umeå. She has had solo exhibitions at venues such as PRÁM in Prague, Platform Stockholm, BO The Association of Visual Artists in Oslo, Nordnorsk Kunstnersenter, as well as shown works at Trafo Kunsthall, Tschechisches Zentrum Wien, Konstmuseet in Norr, and C4 Projects in Copenhagen. 

Photo: Agnete Brun

Oda Kirkebø Nyfløtt

Performing arts

Oda Kirkebø Nyfløtt (1988) is an actress and theatre maker hailing from Førde, Norway, and a graduate of Ècole Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. She co-founded the international theatre collective the Krumple in 2013, and has since been co-artistic director of the company. With the Krumple she has created a number of critically acclaimed performances which have toured extensively in Norway and abroad, among others the award winning YOKAI - remedy for despair (2016) and DÉJÀ - a gentle sadness of things (2019), who are still touring internationally. Aside from her projects with the Krumple she has worked as an actress at Teater Vestland and Brageteatret, and collaborated as a freelance performer with various Norwegian directors, such as Frode Gjerløw, Marie Nikazm, Torkil Sandsund, Audny Chris Holsen, Miriam Prestøy Lie and Philipp Stengele. She received Arts Council Norway’s artist grant for young actors in 2016-2017 and 2019, and artist work grants for 2023-2024. In her creative work, Oda wishes to offer space for wonder, enchantment and - hopefully - relief, to that which may feel overwhelming, chaotic or hopeless.  

Photo: Agnete Brun

Synnøve Brøndbo Plassen

Folk musician and singer

Synnøve Brøndbo Plassen has with her big and versatile voice become one of the most wanted young folk musicians in Norway. She grew up in Folldal, a mountain village, with traditional music as a part of everyday life. Plassen has been nominated for the Norwegian grammys for both her solo-albums, and she has a masters degree in traditional music from the Norwegian academy of music. In 2024 she received the King’s trophy for her traditional singing at Landskappleiken. Now, she lives in Oslo and works as a singer and musician, and she recently received the government grant for artists for three years. She works as a soloist with different orchestras, choirs and ensembles, and she is a part of the vocal trio Hekate (NO). 

Photo: Agnete Brun

 

Tobi Pfeil

Composer, performing artist, and multimedia artist

How would your life feel if you played it like a level in a video game, or if you knew it was an extraterrestrial computer simulation? The German-Norwegian composer, performance artist, and musician Tobi Pfeil (they/them) continuously questions our collective perception of reality, through works ranging from electronic music production, 3D animation, and virtual reality pieces, to multimedia music theatre and digital performing arts. Their work blends narrative strategies from video games and anime with 3D-scanned objects, AI, and electronic music, blurring the lines between artificiality and reality in captivating hyperspaces and speculative, post-digital storytelling. Pfeil's work has been showcased at venues such as the Venice Biennale, Nordic Music Days Glasgow, Black Box Theatre Oslo, Festival International de la Imagen Colombia, Jam Fes Tokyo, and Ultima Festival Oslo. Together with Claudia Cox, Pfeil co-leads the interdisciplinary company ONLY SLIME, which will hold a year-long artist residency in 2025, in collaboration with Tani Dibasey at Scene 3 at the Norwegian Theatre in Oslo.

Photo: Agnete Brun

Usikker Kunstjente

USIKKERKUNSTJENTE is an artist duo consisting of Alexandra Jegerstedt and Iben Isabell Krogsgaard, both of whom have degrees from the Academy of Fine Arts in Trondheim (BFA) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Bergen (MFA). The alterego USIKKERKUNSTJENTE is their collaborative practice. In this symbiosis they combine their individual knowledge of materials and techniques and challenge each other creatively through dialogue, drawing, and experimentation. The duo works with a wide range of materials such as digital jacquard weave, drawing, oil painting, plastic, stone, steel, bronze and glass. Through the alter ego USIKKERKUNSTJENTE, they create conceptual universes, that address questions as what art is and how it exists. Jegerstedt and Krogsgaard have been working together since 2018. The name USIKKERKUNSTJENTE is a comment on a prevailing sensation of ambivalence towards one's own expression as a young non-established artist. In their practice, they also investigate narratives that characterize both the historical and contemporary art scene, where materials in which material and technique often are associated with gender and identity.

Photo: Agnete Brun

 

ArtEx participants 2023-2024

Azar Ebrahimi

Documentary filmmaker

Azar 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 choreographer

Ida 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 artist

Julian 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 designer

Louise 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

Flutist

Maria 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 artist

Mark 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

Architect

Marte 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 composer

Uno 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 composer

Veslemøy 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

Writer

Zakiya 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 arts

Ahmed 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

Cellist

Birgitta 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

Actress

Catharina 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 actor

Heiki 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 arts

Idun 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 dancer

Inés 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

Musician

Margrete 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

Cellist

Sandra 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

Violinist

Sonoko 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

Musician

Torje 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

Alexander Kereklidis Turpin

Film director

Alexander 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.

 

Aslak Aune Nygård

Dancer

Aslak 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

Actor

Carl 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

Percussionist

David 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.

Ernst De Geer

Film director

Ernst 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 director

Fredrik 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

Ingrid Neset

Flutist

Ingrid 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 director

Liv 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.

 

Nora Elise Augustinius

Dancer

Nora 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

Guitarist

Oddrun 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.

Sebastian Biong

Dancer

Sebastian 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

 

Tabita Berglund

Conductor

Tabita 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.

 

ArtEx participants 2017-2018

Aasne Vaa Greibrokk

Film director

Aasne 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).

Amalie Stalheim

Cellist

Amalie 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.

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.

 

 

Grete Sofie Borud Nybakken

Dancer

Grete 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

Actress

Ida 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.

 

 

Maria Angelika Carlsen

Violinist

Maria 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

Violinist

Maria 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

Danser

Mariama 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.

 

Ole Christian Haagenrud

Pianist

Ole 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.

 

Simon Tillaas

Film director

Swedish-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.

 

Thormod Rønning Kvam

Pianist

Thormod 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

Violinist

The 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.