2016 Music Fellow Benedicte Maurseth is the 2026 recipient of the Nordisk Råds Musikkpri (Nordic Council Music Prize), together with composer Kristine Tjøgersen, for Elja, a suite for the Kronos Quartet and Hardanger fiddle. The prestigious prize, a co-operation between the Nordic Countries, is awarded each year in literature, film, music, and environmental work. Each prize comes with a purse of DKK 300,000 (approx. $45,000 USD).
Rationale
The council praised Elja as “an innovative and ambitious work that unites folk tradition, contemporary music, and a strong ecological perspective within a single, fully realized artistic vision. Drawing on the open landscapes of Hardangervidda, the composers create a rich and coherent sonic world in which birds, animals, weather, and vast distances emerge as musical movements and states of being. In it, nature appears not as a subject to be depicted, but as a fragile ecosystem in which everything is connected – and the music carries a quiet awareness of what is at risk of being lost.
The piece was written for a purpose-built family of instruments – Hardanger fiddles, Hardanger viola, and Hardanger cello, crafted by luthier Ottar Kåsa – with Maurseth as soloist. Their sympathetic strings, alternative tunings, and rich overtones open an immersive space in which the tonal heritage of the Hardanger fiddle tradition meets new musical landscapes. The meeting between Maurseth’s grounding in a living, oral tradition and Tjøgersen’s precise and exploratory approach to sound gives rise to a poetic, richly detailed, and sonically daring expression.
Elja demonstrates how collaboration between different artistic practices can expand the possibilities of the instrument, the tradition, and contemporary music itself. Through its artistic originality, its profound engagement with nature, and its international impact, the work stands out as a significant contribution to the music of our time – a work that invites deep listening and reflection on humanity’s place within the wider ecological community.
Commissioned by Kronos Quartet and Carnegie Hall, the work had its world premiere in New York in March 2025, marking an international breakthrough for two of the most distinctive voices in Norwegian music.”
Benedicte’s winning work Elja is a work for string quintet performed on specially constructed Hardanger instruments.
Awards ceremony in Helsinki on October 27th
The prizes will be presented on October 27th in conjunction with the Session of the Nordic Council in Helsinki, Finland. The awards ceremony will be live-streamed on norden.org.
An event will be held at Bio Rex in Helsinki on October 26th, where the winners will be interviewed on stage in front of a live audience. The event is free to attend and open to the public.