Oslo Sinfonietta
The oldest contemporary ensemble from Norway, Oslo Sinfonietta, was founded by the composer Asbjørn Schaathun in 1986 and is today more active than ever. Oslo Sinfonietta is in fact a musicians’ pool, and gathers musicians from the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, The Norwegian National Opera Orchestra and The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, as well as freelancers.
The ensemble has several proclaimed aims: One is to present classical ground breakers such as Debussy, Schönberg and Ligeti. Another is to bring the most interesting and current foreign music back to Norway. An important contribution to Norwegian music comes from the fact that the ensemble acts as a central playground to important Norwegian composers such as Olav Anton Thommessen, Alfred Janson and Maja Ratkje.
But perhaps even more important is the idea of the ensemble as a playground for the youngest generation among the composers. Among young talents that have been able to act as “composers in residence” in Oslo Sinfonietta, over a period of two years each, are Trond Reinholdtsen and Øyvind Torvund.
Oslo Sinfonietta is also behind several recordings, and was awarded the Norwegian Spellemann Award for their portrayal of Wallin, Boyl, in 1999. Among other recordings can be mentioned Birds and Bells with music by Bent Sørensen.