Ultima Context – the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

Composer and santur player Javid Afsari Rad talks about 'Bigah', his work for the NOWOR orchestra, an Oslo based collaboration between musicians from many different backgrounds and music traditions.. For more info: https://ultima.no/en/events/721cd2a5-6d40-4faf-b06d-7d3361003e1e

Presenter: Rob Young

Original music: Kristine Tjøgersen

Producer: Regine Døsen Kristoffersen @ Filt Oslo.

The Ultima Context Podcast is a production of Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Find out more at ultima.no

Ultima Context – the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

At a mountain hotel outside Oslo, artist and composer Marianne Stranger is setting up an immersive sound installation called Vannverk (Waterwork), which includes audience members floating in the outdoor pool in large transparent inflatable bubbles. In this sound portrait she talks to Rob Young about the project and we hear extracts of the accompanying music. For more info: https://www.mariannestranger.net

Presenter: Rob Young

Original music: Kristine Tjøgersen

Producer: Regine Døsen Kristoffersen @ Filt Oslo.

The Ultima Context Podcast is a production of Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Find out more at ultima.no

Ultima Context – the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

We meet Carmen Villain in her studio in central Oslo to talk about the revival of interest in Ambient music and her own production techniques. 

Presenter: Rob Young

Original music: Kristine Tjøgersen

Producer: Regine Døsen Kristoffersen @ Filt Oslo.

The Ultima Context Podcast is a production of Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Find out more at ultima.no

Ultima Context – the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music. 

Jennifer Torrence, percussionist with Oslo based group Pinquins, talks about preparing to perform 100 Cymbals, a new work by the Japanese composer Ryoji Ikeda. The full group performing on 22.9.21 (https://ultima.no/en/events/1eecc959-1227-4bc1-8c2c-2324ebebc0e4) consists of: Michaela Antalová, Johanne Byhring, Sigrun Gomnæs, Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen, Nasra (Nasra Ali Omar), Ylva Bråten Rian, Matilda Rolfsson, Sanskriti Shrestha, Nora Sjøgren, Jennifer Torrence. Direction: Alexandre Babel. 

Presenter: Rob Young

Original music: Kristine Tjøgersen 

Producer: Regine Døsen Kristoffersen @ Filt Oslo. 

The Ultima Context Podcast is a production of Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Find out more at ultima.no

Ultima Context - the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

Black Lives Matter, corrupt and incompetent governments, environmental disaster and COVID-19 have all been the triggers for public protests in 2020. How is contemporary music keeping pace with these radical movements? Can music still shake the walls down? Hanan Benammar and Sara Baban criticise power structures in performances pieces like the controversial Ways of Seeing in Oslo. Here they talk to Rob Young about racism and truth telling. Recorded live during Ultima Festival 2020.

Produced by Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Editors: Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen (in-Chief), Torunn Forland and Rob Young. Co-produced by Filt Oslo: Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, Peter Daatland. Jingles composed by Kristine Tjøgersen. Supported by Music Norway, Norsk Komponistforening, TONO and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

Ultima Context - the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

How can writers and editors make contemporary music accessible and exciting? As a critic of modern music, who are you writing for - those in the low, or fresh pairs of ears? Where is the line between complexity and simplification? We hear from Eystein Sandvik, Synne Skouen, Jørgen Karlstrøm and Anne Hilde Neset. Hosted by Guro Kleveland from Ballade magazine. Recorded live during Ultima Festival 2020. The conversation is in Norwegian.

Produced by Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Editors: Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen (in-Chief), Torunn Forland and Rob Young. Co-produced by Filt Oslo: Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, Peter Daatland. Jingles composed by Kristine Tjøgersen. Supported by Music Norway, Norsk Komponistforening, TONO and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

Ultima Context - the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

New music is often expected to be serious, difficult and austere, but plenty of younger emerging composers and performers are turning that image around. What place is there for comedy, irony, self-mockery and awkwardness in today’s cutting edge music? We find out with composer Trond Reinholdtsen, percussionist Jennifer Torrence and composer Manos Tsangaris. Hosted by Rob Young. Recorded live during Ultima Festival 2020.

Produced by Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Editors: Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen (in-Chief), Torunn Forland and Rob Young. Co-produced by Filt Oslo: Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, Peter Daatland. Jingles composed by Kristine Tjøgersen. Supported by Music Norway, Norsk Komponistforening, TONO and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

Ultima Context - the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

Today’s contemporary music scene likes to boast about how diverse it has become. But is it really more inclusive than before? How can cultural gatekeepers properly incorporate sounds and artists from outside the western classical tradition? A conversation between Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen, Cliff Moustache, Sandeep Baghwati and Sandra Marja West. Hosted by Siri Haugan Holden. Recorded live during Ultima Festival 2020.

Produced by Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Editors: Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen (in-Chief), Torunn Forland and Rob Young. Co-produced by Filt Oslo: Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, Peter Daatland. Jingles composed by Kristine Tjøgersen. Supported by Music Norway, Norsk Komponistforening, TONO and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

Ultima Context - the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music. This episode features a discussion recorded on the opening night of this year’s Ultima Festival on 10 September 2020. Festival Director Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen, musician Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen and composer Sandeep Baghwati explain how the coronavirus has affected everything about how they plan, work and collaborate. Presenter: Rob Young.

Produced by Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Editors: Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen (in-Chief), Torunn Forland and Rob Young. Co-produced by Filt Oslo: Ragnhild Fangel Jamtveit, Peter Daatland. Jingles composed by Kristine Tjøgersen. Supported by Music Norway, Norsk Komponistforening, TONO and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.

Ultima Context – the podcast that takes you deeper into the world of contemporary and experimental music.

In a sound portrait recorded in Oslo, Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen meets Jennifer Torrence and Sigrun Rogstad Gomnæs from the contemporary music trio Pinquins as they prepare to premiere three exciting new works under the title ‘Music and Health’ (13 September). We’ll hear about mental wellbeing, the openness of the Norwegian music scene, and just how far they will go in the pursuit of telling a story through music.

Produced by Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. Editors: Thorbjørn Tønder Hansen (in-Chief), Torunn Forland and Rob Young. Co-produced by Filt Oslo: Regine Døsen Kristoffersen, Peter Daatland. Jingles composed by Kristine Tjøgersen. Supported by Music Norway, Norsk Komponistforening, TONO and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.