The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, Norwegian Radio Orchestra & Grete Pedersen
Biography The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, Norwegian Radio Orchestra & Grete Pedersen
Grete Pedersen
The Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen is one of the most renowned conductors in the international choral scene. Since 1990 Grete Pedersen is Music Director of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir whose recordings were awarded the ‘Choc de la Musique’ and the ‘Prix d'Or’ from Diapason.
Grete Pedersen is a demanded guest conductor and has worked with the Eric Ericson Kammerchor, Schwedischen Rundfunkchor, Netherlands Radio Chor, Netherlands Chamber Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble and Choir, Rundfunkchor Berlin, MDR Leipzig Radio Choir, Chamber Choir Ireland, Pro Coro Canada, Tokyo Cantat, World Youth Choir, Freiburger Barockorchester, Stavanger Symphony, Slovenian Philharmonic among others. Grete Pedersen and the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir were invited to participate in the highly-acclaimed project “150 psalms” at Early Music Festival Utrecht, New York and Brussels in 2017/18.
Future highlights will see engagements with the Netherlands Chamber Choir, Choeur de Radio France, Croatian Radio Choir, Danish National Vocal Ensemble, Netherlands Bach Society, Estonian Male Choir, BBC Singers, Latvian Radio Choir among others.
Pedersen's name stands for productions and stagings with wide stylistic variety. Her contrasting concert programmes are known to often be a rather radical mixture. In addition to premiering contemporary musical works, her efforts have increasingly been directed towards larger productions for choir and orchestra.
BIS Records has released numerous recordings by Grete Pedersen and the Norwegian Soloists Choir with works by Per Norgard, Kaija Saariaho, Iannis Xenakis, Helmut Lachenmann, Alfred Janson, J.S. Bach, Knut Nystedt, Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen, Fartein Valen, Anton Webern, Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Edvard Grieg and Norwegian Folk Music. Her album with J.S. Bach Motets with the Norwegian Soloists‘ Choir and Ensemble Allegria was awarded the Diapason d’Or in 2018. The album The wind blows with music by Alfred Janson together with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir Records has been chosen as 'Record of the year 2018' by Gramophone.
Grete Pedersen completed her postgraduate studies in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo and has also studied chorus conducting with Eric Ericson and orchestra conducting with Kenneth Kiesler. She currently teaches as a professor in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music and is a sought-after teacher for masterclasses.
In 1984 Grete Pedersen founded the Oslo Chamber Choir which she directed until 2004.
In November 2019, Grete Pedersen was appointed Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian St. Olavs Order for her merit and outstanding achievements in the arts.
