Maja Ratkje

Maja Ratkje
Birth name Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje
Born (1973-12-29) 29 December 1973
Trondheim, Sør-Trøndelag
Origin Norway
Genres Jazz
Occupation(s) Musician, composer
Instruments Vocals, elektronics
Associated acts Jazzkammer
SPUNK
Agrare
Website ratkje.no

Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje (born 29 December 1973 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian vocalist and composer.

Career

Ratkje studied composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo under the tutorship of Lasse Thoresen, Olav Anton Thommessen and Asbjørn Schaathun, and got her diploma in 2000. During the summer of 1999, Ratkje studied at IRCAM and she has also studied individually with composers such as Louis Andriessen, Sofia Gubaidulina, Ivar Frounberg, Klaus Huber, Joji Yuasa and Kaija Saariaho.[1]

She performs and releases music for concerts, recordings, films, installations, theatre, dance and other performances. Maja is a member of SPUNK, a Norwegian improv group, and Agrare, a performance trio consisting of the noise duo Fe-mail and the Swedish dancer Lotta Melin. She has collaborated with, among others, POING, Jaap Blonk, Lasse Marhaug, Joëlle Léandre, Per Inge Bjørlo, Stian Westerhus, Kathy Hinde, Odd Johan Fritzøe, HC Gilje, Stephen O'Malley, Ikue Mori and Zeena Parkins..[2]

As a vocal soloist, Ratkje has performed with ensembles Engegårdkvartetten, Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble InterContemporain and Klangforum Wien. In 2003 she also performed as a soloist at the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival premiere of her opera No Title Performance. [3]

Ratkje’s career as a composer spans from smaller chamber music works to opera, orchestral works, film-, dance and theatre music. Her works have seen performances by performers, ensembles and orchestras such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Klangforum Wien, Oslo Sinfonietta, Kringkastingsorkestret, Arve Tellefsen, Vertavokvartetten, Frode Haltli, Marianne Beate Kielland, Engegårdkvartetten and Cikada. Ratkje has twice been selected as the San Fransico-based Other Minds Festival’s profile composer. Ratkje has also been composer in residence at festivals Trondheim Kammermusikkfestival, Nordland Musikkfestuke, Avanti! Summer Festival and at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Key works includes Gagaku Variations (accordion, string quartet), Crepuscular Hour (3 choirs, 6 noise musicians, organ, electronics), Concerto for Voice and Orchestra, Essential Extensions, Korall Koral (baby opera) and Sinus Seduction (sax, tape). [4]

2001 saw Ratkje, as the first Norwegian composer, being bestowed with the Arne Nordheim Composer’s Prize. She is also a recipient of a number of domestic and international awards, including two Edvard Prizes and the UNESCO Rostrum Award as well as Award of Distinction with Jazkamer during the Prix Ars Electronica for her solo album Voice in 2003. [5]

Ratkje has also served as a music critic for Norwegian weekly newspaper Morgenbladet and has published a book via publishing house Aschehoug: Stemmer.Eksperimentell Kvinneglam (ISBN 9788203356797). Ratkje is also an advocate for environmental issues, and is a member of climate action group Stopp oljesponsing av norsk kulturliv (translation: End oil-sponsorship of Norwegian Arts.), and refrains from accepting offers for performances or commissions supported by the oil industry. [6]

Ratkje is a great source of inspiration to new experimental Norwegian musicians like Natalie Sandtorv and Torgeir Standal in The Jist duo.[7]

Honors

Production

Selected works

Orchestral works

Chamber works

Works for stage productions

Multimedia works, film music


Solo

Collaborations

With SPUNK
With Fe-mail
Other collaborations
Compilations

References

  1. ↑ "Maja Ratkje". Biography. Punktfestival.no. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  2. ↑ "Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje". Biography. MIC.no. 2011-03-21. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  3. ↑ "Ballade article on No Title Performance premiere". Ballade.no. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  4. ↑ "All Music bio on Ratkje". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  5. ↑ "Music Norway bio on Ratkje". musicnorway.no. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  6. ↑ "Stopp oljesponsing av norsk kulturliv official website". stoppoljesponsingavnorskkulturliv.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  7. ↑ Hareuveni, Eyal (2014-05-02). "The Jist: The Jist (2014)". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  8. 1 2 "Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje". Biography. Sceneweb.no. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  9. ↑ "Maja S. K. Ratkje vant Arne Nordheims Komponistpris 2001" (in Norwegian). Ballade.no. 2001-10-15. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  10. ↑ "Pris til Maja Ratkje" (in Norwegian). Ballade.no. 2001-09-27. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  11. ↑ "Prestigious award to Maja Ratkje". Ratkje.no. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  12. ↑ "Maja S. K. Ratkje". Discography. Discogs.com. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
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