— Four miniature concerts where the next generation meets established voices.
This evening, we welcome you to a new concert concept in the Håkon's Hall. During four half-hour performances, you will get to experience several generations of young musicians — performing alongside a selection of established artists. The programmes offer great breadth and are carefully tailored for the occasion, and you are welcome to come and go between the sections as you wish.
This evening we will be showcasing several internationally emerging young artists from Bergen: Pianist Kei Solvang, violinist Henning Felde Haldorsen, and soprano Helen Tyssekvam. We will also become better acquainted with violinist Alma Kraggerud, who already has an international career despite her young age. The established mentors are Artistic Director and pianist Thormod Rønning Kvam, as well as folk musician and composer Benedicte Maurseth — who will bring us to Hardangervidda in her solo section for Hardanger fiddle.
The programme details for the various performances have now been published. You will be hearing several of Grieg's violin sonatas, Strauss' beautiful songs from op. 10, Debussy's festive L’isle joyeuse, and much more. Scroll further down the page to read the details. Welcome!
Helen Tyssekvam soprano
Alma Kraggerud violin
Benedicte Maurseth Hardanger fiddle
Henning Felde Haldorsen violin
Kei Solvang piano
Thormod Rønning Kvam piano
Each section lasts approximately 25-30 minutes. Total duration approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes including breaks.
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This performance begins at 6 p.m.
PROGRAMME
Johan Halvorsen (1864—1935)
Norwegian Dance No. 1 (1896)Fritz Kreisler (1875—1962)
Caprice viennois, Op. 2Henning Kraggerud (b. 1973)
Duo in DEdvard Grieg (1843—1907)
Violin Sonata in G major, 1st movementPERFORMERS
Henning Felde Haldorsen violin
Alma Kraggerud violin
Kei Solvang piano
Thormod Rønning Kvam piano -
This section begins at approximately 6:35 p.m.
PROGRAMME
Claude Debussy (1862—1918)
L'isle joyeuse (1904)Richard Strauss (1864—1949)
Selected Songs, Op. 10:
Devotion
The GeorgineFranz Schubert (1797—1828)
Gretchen am Spinnrade, D. 118
Ganymede, D. 544Henri Duparc (1848—1933)
L'invitation au voyage (1870)Rebecca Clarke (1886—1979)
The Seal Man (1922)PERFORMERS
Helen Tyssekvam soprano
Kei Solvang piano -
This section begins at approximately 7:10 p.m.
PROGRAMME
Folk musician and composer Benedicte Maurseth approaches her music with «raw poetry» — music composed in the moment. This section offers an opportunity to become more familiar with Maurseth's work. The programme has been carefully curated for the occasion by the composer herself — featuring spontaneous compositions, newly composed traditional folk tunes, and free variations on older traditional tunes.PERFORMERS
Benedicte Maurseth Harding fiddle -
This section begins at approximately 7:45 p.m.
PROGRAMME
Edvard Grieg (1843—1907)
Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45PERFORMERS
Alma Kraggerud violin
Thormod Rønning Kvam piano -
Helen Tyssekvam is a young soprano from Sande in Sunnfjord who in June completed her master's degree in classical vocal performance at the Grieg Academy, where she also earned her bachelor's degrees. This autumn, she will begin her studies at the Opera Academy in Oslo. She has participated in all productions organized by Bergen National Opera and the Grieg Academy, sung in masterclasses with performers such as Joyce DiDonato and Håkon Austbø, and taken part in the prestigious opera academy of the Queen Sonja International Music Competition. Alongside her studies, she works on her own long-term projects with other musicians and composers, and is currently involved in the creation of a contemporary chamber opera.
Alma Kraggerud was the winner of the NRK competition Virtuos in 2022 and took third prize in Eurovision Young Musicians the same year. The Virtuos jury described her with words such as «unique presence» and «a surprising musical power». She has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Arctic Philharmonic, Wrocław Symphony Orchestra, and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra. Alma plays the Stradivari instrument «Ex-Karl Klingler» from 1720, on loan from Anders Sveaas' Public-Benefit Fund.
Benedicte Maurseth is an acclaimed Hardanger fiddler, composer, and author, who apprenticed for many years with the acknowledged folk musician Knut Hamre. She has performed as a soloist in Norway and internationally, including at the Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall, and has collaborated with artists such as Jon Fosse, Rolf Lislevand, and Kronos Quartet. Her solo album Hárr (2022) won the Nordic Music Prize and was included on The Guardian's list of the year's ten best folk music albums — an honor also received by the album Mirra in 2025. For the book Systerspel and the associated work, she was named Folk Musician of the Year in 2023. In 2026, she is a resident composer at KODE in Bergen, where she is developing a new work dedicated to the Hardangerfjord, and she will also participate in the 30th-anniversary celebration of Hardanger Musikkfest later in August.
Henning Felde Haldorsen is a fifteen-year-old violinist from Bergen who gained national attention when he won the Midgard Prize in 2024. The following year he took first prize in the international Young Musician competition in Tallinn, and he has later received both the Eilif and daughter Besse Gunstrøm Memorial Scholarship and the Ånun Lund Rej Memorial Prize. Since 2024 he has been a fellow at the Musikakademie in Liechtenstein, where he regularly participates in intensive study weeks with Professor Latica Honda-Rosenberg, and at home he has had Kari Knudsen and later Per Gisle Haagenrud and Alf Richard Kraggerud as teachers. He is a student at Unge Talenter Vestland and the Barratt Due Music Institute. Henning has been a festival artist at, among others, the Valdres Summer Symphony and the Bergen International Festival, where he held a solo concert in June 2026, and he has performed as a soloist with orchestras in both Tallinn and his hometown of Bergen.
Kei Solvang was born in Japan and moved to Norway when she was five years old. She is currently a master's student at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, with support from the Ingar Dobloug Foundation. Solvang has been Pianist of the Week at Troldhaugen, opened Aulaseriene's season in 2023, and performed as a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra during the Bergen International Festival. Together with Austrian cellist Sarah Moser, she won second prize at the LFN International Chamber Music Competition in Bolzano in 2025, and in 2026, first prize in the chamber music category at the Munich Piano Competition. Since March, she has been a scholarship holder at Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now München, and she established Trio LYS with Birgitta Elisa Oftestad and Phelan Nyvoll Walker in 2025.
Thormod Rønning Kvam belongs to a new generation of Nordic performers who combine international concert activity with a burning commitment to renewing classical communication. He is currently a recipient of the State's work grant for young artists, and in 2023 was appointed Associate of the Royal Academy of Music in London (ARAM) for 'his significant contribution to the music profession'. The following year he received both the Nils Larsen International Debut Prize and the Fegersten Scholarship. In June he made his solo debut with two sold-out concerts at the Bergen International Festival, with music by Sæverud, Tchaikovsky and Grieg. Other highlights in recent years include performances at London's Wigmore Hall, Harpa in Reykjavik, the Norwegian Opera and Stockholm Concert Hall, as well as solo tours with, among others, the Norwegian Wind Ensemble under the direction of Christian Eggen. Kvam is the founder and artistic director of Aulaseriene .
We wish you an enjoyable, unique concert experience with us. Welcome!
Photo: Nikolaj Lund (Kraggerud) / Hans Jørgen Brun (Haldorsen) / Per Sollerman (Kvam) / Silje Katrine Robinson (Maurseth) / David Zadig (Tyssekvam) / Nagisa Minemura (Solvang)