Bødtker Vold Wergeland - Bødtker, Ellen (harpe) / Vold, Jan Erik (narrator)

BØDTKER VOLD WERGELAND

Harpist Ellen Bødtker's latest album offers newly composed music set to the poetry of Jan Erik Vold and Henrik Wergeland. This unique collaboration takes a new direction, featuring a string quartet and percussion. Jan Erik Vold's vocals seamlessly weave in and out of the music, creating a cohesive musical narrative. Wergeland's texts are selected with a musical and thematic perspective, while Vold adds his contributions from his rich body of work, providing a commentary on Wergeland's themes.

The string players are from the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra, and the music is written specifically for these selected star musicians. The quartet serves as a bridge between the solo harp and the ensemble. The quartet members are violinist Bjarne Magnus Jensen, violinist Liv Hilde Klokk-Bryhn, violist Ida Klokk-Bryhn, andcellist Audun Sandvik. Percussionist Eirik Raude completes the ensemble.

Ellen Sejersted Bødtker is an innovative solo harpist and composer. She has performed on most stages in Norway, at many of our festivals, and across much of the world. Bødtker is a distinctive harpist and one of Scandinavia's leading harp soloists. She was educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, and Indiana University in the USA. Ellen is known for her strong commitment to contemporary music and collaborates with several of our leading Nordic composers. She also plays in the ensemble Oslo Sinfonietta.

Jan Erik Vold is known as an essayist, translator, cultural debater, and recording artist. Through his poetry and newspaper articles, he has sparked numerous debates about literature and politics, including the "Year of Poetry 2000." In September 2000, he was appointed honorary doctor at the University of Oslo. In the 1960s, he studied languages and literature at the universities of Oslo, Uppsala, and Santa Barbara, California. He debuted as a poet in 1965 with the collection "between mirror and mirror" and has since had an extensive production. Born in 1939, Jan Erik Vold now resides in both Oslo and Stockholm.