Ultima: Smerz & GAEA Earlier That Day

The soundtrack for a crime novel from the big city written for eight voices and digital sound.
Duoen Smerz

Photo: Bror August and Benjamin Barron

Door open: 20:00
Event start: 21:00
Program:
21:00-21:35: Bow, Skjold Rambow and CTM 
21:35-21:50: Break  
21:50-22:25:  Earlier That Day, Smerz and GAEA 

Earlier That Day is a crime mystery choir piece for eight voices and digital sound. This choral work is composed by Catharina Stoltenberg and Henriette Motzfeldt, aka electronic duo Smerz, for the classical vocal ensemble GAEA. It receives its world premiere at MUNCH as part of the Ultima Festival.  
 
 Henriette Motzfeldt and Catharina Stoltenberg work together as composers, producers and artists in the duo Smerz. Their debut album Believer, released on XL Recordings in 2001, was a crossover of experimental electronic music, pop and contemporary composition. 

GAEA is a vocal ensemble consisting of eight singers drawn from the classical music scene. The ensemble perform without a conductor and specialise on contemporary classical polyphonic music. In autumn 2021 GAEA won the elite class in the Norwegian choral competition in Trondheim.

Barbro Melde Solheim – sopran 
Serine Kirkebø Landa – sopran 
Frida Fiona Fuglseth – sopran 
Inga Sofie Jørgensen – sopran 
Marte Helene Arnesen – alt 
Viktoria Dyrlie Løhre – alt 
Oda Linnea Oliversen – alt 
Ida Sandberg Motzfeldt – alt 
Catharina Stoltenberg – MIDI
Henriette Motzfeldt – MIDI

Bow is a performance that combines the dance of artist Skjold Rambow and the music of CTM for the first time. The performance revolves around the intricate relation of entertainment and the weight of expectations that accompany both performers and their audience, on stage and behind the scenes. 
A bow is a gesture, a sign that something has happened. It is a choreography that creates the transition from fiction to reality. 
Skjold Rambow is an artist and performer. With a background as an elite gymnast, breakdancer and choir singer with the Copenhagen Boys Choir, Skjold works with theatre as a phenomenon through sculpture and performance. 
CTM/Cæcilie Trier is a Copenhagen based cellist, singer, and composer. Her classical training shines through in her many and varied projects and collaborations. 

This concert is part of the Ultima festival (September 14-23, 2023), where the diversity of innovative music can be experienced in arenas all over Oslo. The festival is supported by the Cultural Council and the City of Oslo.