Det utstrakte

A scenic work by Nina T. Karlsen and Erik Dæhlin

Wednesday 17 September, at 20:30–21:30

130–300 kr

35 % off with ultiMATE

A conductor before herself

In  Det utstrakte, conductor Nina T. Karlsen takes the stage alone—without a choir, without a score. She conducts from memory: fragments of choral works, songs, and vocal traces that have shaped her through a lifetime of rehearsals and performances. With her hands, face, breath, and gaze, she summons what was once sung. Stillness is filled with presence. Her breath resonates with the echo of the church.

When the choir eventually enters, they step into a space already charged with imagined sound and shaped by one person’s gestures, attentive listening, inner hearing and imagination. Another kind of music begins to unfold: one born of memory, attention, shared presence, new connections, and the resonance of the room itself.

Det utstrakte  is developed by conductor Nina T. Karlsen and composer, stage director, and scenographer Erik Dæhlin, in collaboration with The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, Ensemble 96, and choreographer Kari Anne Bjerkestrand.

A staged performance that takes silence seriously, it explores the conductor as a musical, theatrical, and social figure. A quiet, attentive experience that asks:

How much music can a single body hold?

Facts

A conductor shapes music without sound – through body, gaze, and movement, a shared image of something not yet heard begins to form.
Marks the conclusion of Nina T. Karlsen’s artistic doctoral project The Extended Conductor at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
Nina T. Karlsen and Erik Dæhlin about the title  Det utstrakte: “It holds both the concrete – such as extending an arm or a sound – and the symbolic, like reaching toward something, beyond oneself, or between the inner and the outer”.
Kulturkirken Jakob: a former church with creaking floors, distinctive acoustics, and a space layered with history.
The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir is a professional ensemble based in Oslo, known for over 200 world premieres and a strong profile in contemporary music.