Oslo Camerata
Encyclopedia
The Oslo Camerata is a mostly classical string orchestra based in Oslo
, Norway
as part of the Barratt Due Institute of Music
. Established in 1998, the orchestra consists mostly of professional musicians, with selected Institute students participating in projects. The repertoire consists of classic and newly composed pieces, and has been described as one of most innovative orchestras in Europe. It has performed extensively in Norway, with support of that country’s Ministry of Culture and parts of Europe along with India
, Brazil
and Mexico
. It has released three CDs since 2006.
Their repertoire spans from baroque to contemporary music, commissioning works from both young and established composers. The orchestra has worked with artists such as Truls Mørk
, Julian Rachlin
, Mischa Maisky
, Henning Kraggerud
, Arve Tellefsen
, Ole Edvard Antonsen
, Juhani Lagerspetz
, Christian Lindberg
, Randi Stene and Per Arne Glorvigen . The Camerata and Truls Mørk have collaborated closely, with the cellist often performing as principal guest leader.
and the Festival de Música de Canarias . It has also participated in other events in Spain, as well as Switzerland
and Germany
. It has toured and performed extensively in its native Norway including the international festivals in Bergen
and North of Norway
as well as the chamber music festivals in Oslo, Kristiansand and Stavanger, supported by Norway’s Ministry of Culture. The orchestra has its own concert series at the Old Masonic Lodge in Oslo. The purpose of this series is to combine the talents of established artists, young musicians and international soloists, presenting new and unknown music as well as classical repertoire. In India, the orchestra played in New Delhi
, Bungalore, Bombay and Huderabat. In Brazil, it played at the Mozarteum in São Paulo
. Most recently, it was invited to participate in the 2011 Festival Internacional Cervantino
in Guanajuato
, Mexico as part of the representation of Norway, one of that year’s special guest countries.
for strings by Edvard Grieg
on the Naxos International
label. This CD received favorable reviews from Classics Today and the Oslo Puls . A second recording came out in 2010, with two violin concertos by Louis Spohr
with soloists Henning Kraggerud
and Øyvind Bjorå. A third album, recording Grieg String Quartets arranged for orchestra and “Rendezvous” by Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim
, was released in 2011.
, Brazil. It is called Projeto Aprendiz, teaching music students and teachers, work with local ensembles, donating instruments and equipment and helping to build a music library. This work is co sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
as part of the Barratt Due Institute of Music
Barratt Due Institute of Music
Barratt Due Institute of Music is located in Oslo, Norway. It was established in 1927 by pianist Mary Barratt Due and violinist Henrik Adam Due. It is a private foundation which receives government funding for parts of its activities...
. Established in 1998, the orchestra consists mostly of professional musicians, with selected Institute students participating in projects. The repertoire consists of classic and newly composed pieces, and has been described as one of most innovative orchestras in Europe. It has performed extensively in Norway, with support of that country’s Ministry of Culture and parts of Europe along with India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
. It has released three CDs since 2006.
Composition and repertoire
The Oslo Camerata was established in 1998 as the “ensemble in residence” of the Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo. It mostly consists of professional musicians; however, chosen students from the Institute’s bachelors and masters programs also participate in projects. The orchestra has some of the youngest performers in the European classical music scene and is considered to be one of the most innovative orchestras. The core of the Camerata consists of founder/director Stephan Barratt-Due, third generation violinist of the family, violist Soon-Mi Chung and cellist Bjørn Solum. The orchestra is based at the Institute, located at Lyder Sagens gate 2 in Oslo, Norway.Their repertoire spans from baroque to contemporary music, commissioning works from both young and established composers. The orchestra has worked with artists such as Truls Mørk
Truls Mørk
Truls Olaf Otterbech Mørk is a Norwegian cellist.Mørk was born in Bergen, Norway, the son of two professional musicians, his father a cellist and his mother a pianist. His mother began teaching him the piano when he was seven...
, Julian Rachlin
Julian Rachlin
Julian Rachlin is a Lithuanian-born violinist and violist.-Background and early life:Born in Vilnius, he emigrated in 1978 with his musician parents to Austria. In 1983, he entered the Konservatorium Wien and studied violin in the Soviet tradition with Boris Kuschnir, while also receiving private...
, Mischa Maisky
Mischa Maisky
Mischa Maisky is a Latvian cellist.Maisky began studies at the Leningrad Conservatory and later with Mstislav Rostropovich at the Moscow Conservatory whilst pursuing a concert career throughout the Soviet Union. In 1966 he won 6th Prize at the Moscow International Tchaikovsky Competition. In 1970,...
, Henning Kraggerud
Henning Kraggerud
Henning Kraggerud is a Norwegian violinist. He was born in Oslo in 1973 and has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most outstanding international soloists...
, Arve Tellefsen
Arve Tellefsen
Arve Tellefsen is a Norwegian violinist.He was born and raised in Trondheim, Norway. When he was 6 years old, he began playing the violin in 'Trondheims musikkskole'...
, Ole Edvard Antonsen
Ole Edvard Antonsen
Ole Edvard Antonsen is a Norwegian trumpeter, musician and conductor.Antonsen was born in Vang, Hedmark, now part of Hamar. He is best known as a solo trumpeter, active in different genres of music; classical music, chamber music, baroque, jazz and pop. Since the mid 2000s, he has also been...
, Juhani Lagerspetz
Juhani Lagerspetz
Juhani Henrik Lagerspetz is a Finnish pianist trained at the Turku Conservatory and the Sibelius Academy, where he serves as a lecturer. He was prized by the Alfred Kordelin Foundation in 1994....
, Christian Lindberg
Christian Lindberg
Christian Lindberg is a Swedish trombonist, conductor and composer.As a youth, Lindberg learned to play the trumpet, and subsequently began to learn the trombone at age 17. He originally borrowed a trombone to join his friends' Dixieland jazz group, inspired by records of Jack Teagarden...
, Randi Stene and Per Arne Glorvigen . The Camerata and Truls Mørk have collaborated closely, with the cellist often performing as principal guest leader.
Appearances
The Camerata has toured on four continents, primarily in Europe. On this continent, it has appeared at the XXVI Ciclo de Introducción a la Música in SpainSpain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and the Festival de Música de Canarias . It has also participated in other events in Spain, as well as Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It has toured and performed extensively in its native Norway including the international festivals in Bergen
Bergen International Festival
Bergen International Festival is an annual international music and cultural festival in Bergen, Norway. The festival is the largest in the Nordic countries in its genre and has a large number of activities in music, dance, literature, visual arts, folklore etc...
and North of Norway
Festival of North Norway
The Festival of North Norway is a festival based in Harstad, Norway.It was first held in 1965, and consists of music, theatre and art performances. The director of the festival is Birger Carlsen....
as well as the chamber music festivals in Oslo, Kristiansand and Stavanger, supported by Norway’s Ministry of Culture. The orchestra has its own concert series at the Old Masonic Lodge in Oslo. The purpose of this series is to combine the talents of established artists, young musicians and international soloists, presenting new and unknown music as well as classical repertoire. In India, the orchestra played in New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
, Bungalore, Bombay and Huderabat. In Brazil, it played at the Mozarteum in São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
. Most recently, it was invited to participate in the 2011 Festival Internacional Cervantino
Festival Internacional Cervantino
The Festival Internacional Cervantino takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. This is a small colonial-era city with history of having a large cultural scene. The origins of the festival are from the mid 20th century, when short plays by Miguel de Cervantes...
in Guanajuato
Guanajuato, Guanajuato
Guanajuato is a city and municipality in central Mexico and the capital of the state of the same name. It is located in a narrow valley, which makes the streets of the city narrow and winding. Most are alleys that cars cannot pass through, and some are long sets of stairs up the mountainsides....
, Mexico as part of the representation of Norway, one of that year’s special guest countries.
Releases
The orchestra has released two CDs so far called the Holberg Suite, focusing on this suiteHolberg Suite
Holberg Suite, Op. 40 more properly "From Holberg's Time", , subtitled "Suite in olden style" , is a suite of five movements based on eighteenth century dance forms, written by Edvard Grieg in 1884 to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Danish-Norwegian humanist playwright Ludvig...
for strings by Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
on the Naxos International
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
label. This CD received favorable reviews from Classics Today and the Oslo Puls . A second recording came out in 2010, with two violin concertos by Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
with soloists Henning Kraggerud
Henning Kraggerud
Henning Kraggerud is a Norwegian violinist. He was born in Oslo in 1973 and has established himself as one of Scandinavia's most outstanding international soloists...
and Øyvind Bjorå. A third album, recording Grieg String Quartets arranged for orchestra and “Rendezvous” by Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim
Arne Nordheim was a Norwegian composer who had since 1982 been living in the Norwegian State's honorary residence, Grotten, next to the Royal Palace in Oslo. Nordheim received numerous prizes for his compositions, and was elected an honorary member of the International Society for Contemporary...
, was released in 2011.
Other projects
Since 2008, the orchestra has been involved in a project for children and youth in NiteróiNiterói
Niterói is a municipality in the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast region of Brazil. It has an estimated population of 487,327 inhabitants and an area of ², being the sixth most populous city in the state and the highest Human Development Index. Integrates the Metropolitan Region of Rio de...
, Brazil. It is called Projeto Aprendiz, teaching music students and teachers, work with local ensembles, donating instruments and equipment and helping to build a music library. This work is co sponsored by the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.