WHAT'S COOKING – Kitchen Orchestra with two new commissioned works by Marthe Lea and Olav Stener Olsen

Marthe Lea has established herself in recent years as one of the most distinctive voices in Norwegian improvised music. The new work draws on traditional folk melodies from Rogaland. Through improvisation, musical instructions and collective exploration, old melodies encounter Kitchen Orchestra’s distinctive sound world.

Kitchen Orchestra’s own cellist, Olav Stener Olsen, has composed Paths, inspired by a 3,150-kilometre journey on foot from Lindesnes to Nordkapp. The work explores how the choices and paths taken through life help shape who people become – both the planned and the spontaneous. Through open structures and notated improvisation, decisions are made along the way, shaping the work in true Kitchen Orchestra spirit through the meeting of improvisation, ensemble interplay and carefully crafted compositional material.

Kitchen Orchestra has for many years been an important platform for new music in Stavanger, and the concert continues the tradition of commissioned works written specifically for the ensemble. Two composers with different musical starting points come together in a concert where improvisation, innovation and musical interplay take centre stage.