Cikada to play the Magma festival
Norwegian ensemble Cikada, who are internationally renowned for their innovative take on contemporary music, will be off to play at the ambulating Magma festival in Berlin this November. The ensemble of ten have just completed a very successful performance at Ultima, the Norwegian festival for contemporary music.
The Cikada ensemble describe themselves as "an organised pool of musicians" with ten members, with the goal of performing music by and in close collaboration with composers of our contemporary times. They perform as a full ensemble of nine plus conductor, or as several smaller constellations using musicians from within the pool:
Examples are the classical string quartet (Cikada String Quartet), a trio consisting of piano, percussion and a piano (Cikada Trio), and a piano and percussion duo (Cikada Duo). This structure allows a great flexibility and the possibility of covering vast areas of the contemporary repertoire.
The Oslo-based Cikada Ensemble was established in 1989 and is financed by the Department of Culture through New Music, a Norwegian organisation who imparts contemporary music through concerts, CD-production and workshops.
The ensemble is constantly on the lookout for new, exciting and unique works, and has since its formation collaborated - and experimented - with the works of composers such as Magnus Lindberg, Tristan Murail, Tan Dun, James Dillon, Bent Sørensen, Rolf Wallin, Asbjørn Schaathun, George Crumb and Alejandro Viñao.
Throughout the years, the ensemble has toured in most of Europe as well as in Mexico, the United States and Japan. Highlights include performances at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and the recording of the CD Birds and Bells with music by the Danish composer Bent Sørensen on the exclusive German label ECM Records.
In November Cikada are venturing off to Berlin, where they will perform at the Magma festival. The purpose of the Magma festival is to promote Nordic contemporary music as well as design, dance and food.
- We are very much looking forward to it, says Kenneth Karlsson, the pianist in the band. - No matter how long we play together, it’s always fun!
Cikada consists of: Kersti Walldén (flute), Terje B. Lerstad (clarinet) ,Bjørn Rabben (percussion), Kenneth Karlsson (piano), Henrik Hannisdal (violin), Odd Hannisdal (violin), Marek Konstantynowicz (tenor violin), Morten Hannisdal (cello), Magnus Söderberg (double-bass) and conductor Christian Eggen.
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