Amalie Stalheim, Sergej Osadchuk, Vertavo String Quartet
Biography Amalie Stalheim, Sergej Osadchuk, Vertavo String Quartet
Amalie Stalheim
Award winning cellist, Amalie Stalheim (b. 1993) has appeared as soloist with orchestras including Gulbenkian Orquestra, Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Swedish Radio Orchestra and Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, among others. Recently she had Mazzoli premiere at Festspillene in Bergen, Therese Ulvo premiere Bergen Fil and debut with presideintal Symphnoy Orchestra Turkiye.
Amalie has collaborated with conductors such as Edward Gardner, Dalia Stasevska, Patrik Ringborg, Okko Kamu, Anna Maria Helsing, James Gaffigan, Nuno Coelho, Stanislav Kochanovsky. Stalheim is the winner of the Norwegian Soloist Prize 2021 and the Swedish Soloist Prize 2018.
Stalheim is the winner of the Norwegian Soloist Prize 2021, Swedish Soloist Prize 2018, Ljunggren Competition 2015, Nicholas A. Firmenich Prize from the Verbier Festival 2015.
In addition to perform the traditional cello concertos, Amalie is frequently playing and also commissioning new written music from the 21st century. In the upcoming seasons, she will perform and record five new commissioned cello concertos, dedicated to her, written by composers who are based in Scandinavia.
As an enthusiastic chamber musician, Amalie has collaborated with Janine Jansen, Yo-Yo Ma, Leif-Ove Andsnes, Kathryn Stott, Christian Ihle Hadland, Polina Leschenko, Benjamin Schmid, Lars Anders Tomter.
She appears frequently at the Bergen International Festival, Stavanger International Chamber Music Festival, Rosendal Festival, Hemsing Festival, Copenhagen Summer Festival, Hindsgavl Festival.
Stalheim has been awarded prizes and scholarships from international festivals and foundations, such as “Firmenich Prize” at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland, Anders Wall "Giresta" Scholarship in 2019, Forsberg & Aulies Scholarship in 2020, Fegersten Scholarship in 2018 and Sollentuna Culture Scholarship in 2018.
During the season 2018-2020, Amalie Stalheim was “Artist in Residence” at the Swedish Radio classical music channel, P2.
Amalie Stalheim plays on a cello built by F. Ruggieri (1687) generously lent to her by Anders Sveaas Foundation in Norway.
Vertavo Quartet
is internationally recognised as one of the most masterful string quartets playing today. Since four very young teenagers got together in Norway in 1984, Vertavo’s performances – now rich in maturity and of the most captivating sound quality – delight audiences wherever they play.
Now at the cusp of 40 years on since their formation, Vertavo are most probably the world’s longest performing all-female string quartet. Øyvor, Berit and Bjørg are all founder members and Annabelle has been with the quartet for the past 12 years. ‘Assiduous work, solid cohesion and the urge to tell a story in music – this is our holy trinity,’ says violist Berit Cardas.
Vertavo play at all the major concert venues in the world. They have toured throughout Europe, Scandinavia and the US and are invited to participate in some of the most prestigious festivals and at the greatest chamber music venues such as the Wigmore Hall in London, Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and Carnegie Hall in New York.
As well as excelling in the core string quartet repertoire, Vertavo have a visceral and compelling affinity with contemporary music, which has led them to give commanding performances of works by Ligeti, Adès, Widmann, Gabriela Frank, Kaja Saariaho, Sofia Gubaidulina, Judith Weir and many others besides. They gave critically acclaimed first performances of the latest string quartet by Poul Ruders at the Barbican Hall and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Vertavo have collaborated with many of the world’s finest musicians such as Leif Ove Andsnes, Håkan Hardenberger, Martin Fröst, Isabelle van Keulen and Lawrence Power. To great critical acclaim, they undertook a quintet tour with the world-famous British pianist Paul Lewis and also opened the prestigious Proms Chamber Music season at Cadogan Hall in London with him. In September 2023, together with Paul Lewis, they played a live lunchtime concert from the Wigmore Hall for BBC Radio 3.
The quartet’s discography includes Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Grieg, Debussy, Bartok, Nielsen, Asheim, as well as the Mozart Clarinet Quintet with Martin Fröst. Their Debussy and Grieg String Quartets recording received the Diapason d’Or. Their most recent recording of Verdi and Sibelius Quartets was released in 2020. For this recording, Vertavo was nominated for Germany’s 2021 OPUS Klassik Ensemble of the Year.
In 2005, the quartet received the Grieg-Prize: the most significant Norwegian cultural prize, bestowed on artists of the highest international standing. Ten years previously they won First Prize at the Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition where they were also awarded the Audience Prize and the Critics’ Prize.
Vertavo Quartet started its own international chamber music festival, Vertavofestivalen, in Norway in 2016. This gives them the chance to devise programmes featuring their world-class colleagues, delving deep into the wider chamber music repertoire.
Recent BBC broadcasts included Dvorak’s American String Quartet and Bartok’s 5th and 6th String Quartets as part of LSO St. Luke’s Bartok Plus series and a broadcast from the Royal Conservatoire Scotland of Grieg and Smetana String Quartets.
In celebration of their 35-year anniversary, Vertavo Quartet curated a project called Absolutt Haydn! Together with 15 other string quartets, including the Attaca Quartet, they performed all of Haydn’s string quartets at Sentralen in Oslo in 28 hours. It was a unique experience, and a worthy celebration of an ensemble, who embody values of excellence, dedication and generosity.
Sergej Osadchuk
studied at the Moscow Conservatory with Professor Pavel Messner (student and assistant to Emil Gilels) and has thus continued the long-established Russian piano tradition. He has had an extensive career as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist, and has been a soloist with the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Moscow Radio Orchestra, Jönköping Symphony Orchestra, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic, and Oslo Camerata, among others. He combines his concert career with teaching and has given masterclasses in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, and Russia. Osadchuk has released a number of CD recordings in collaboration with various artists including Morten Carlsen (viola) and Marianne Beate Kielland (mezzo-soprano). Osadchuk is Professor of Piano at the Academy of Music, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway.
Jostein Stalheim
was born in Voss, Norway in 1960 and started composing at an early age. When only 17 years old, his first works were broadcast on both radio and television. He studied composition and accordion at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen, Sibelius Academy and at the Norwegian State Academy of Music. Stalheim appears regularly in European festivals as soundpainter, performer and composer.
Stalheim has written music for orchestra, chamber-ensembles, solo, multimedia and also site-specific productions. Stage music comprises a considerable part of his production; a.o. the opera “Pr.Warrants Progress” and the ballets; “Watch”, “Volatile”, “Alrekr” and “Kast”. He has worked in theatres both as composer and musician, among others The Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Hordaland Teater, Den Nationale Scene, The Norwegian National Ballet and Danseteatret/Carte Blanche in Norway. He has received commissions from ensembles both in Norway and abroad.
Stalheim is internationally recognized as an accordion soloist and performs at festivals and with several international orchestras. He had his breakthrough in 1984 in Nordic Solistbiennale were he performed with Esa Pekka Salonen and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. He appears in numerous recordings, both as soloist, as chamber musician and with orchestra; for example Broderfolkonsert, the double concerto by Lasse Thoresen with Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.
He received a Grant from Norwegian Art Council 2014-2015 to compose music for the opera La Peur et les Soins with libretto by Astrid Luisa Niebuhr. He has composed the music for Watch with premiere in Dansens Hus, Oslo. …
