AGNETHE CHRISTENSEN
Agnethe Christensen - voice, kantele, gusli & bells
TRADITION - COMPOSITION - IMPROVISATION
Originally from Sweden, studied at the Royal Danish Conservatory and specialized in renaissance and medieval singing with Andrea von Ramm in Basel and furthermore in Rome and Paris. Well known for her unconventional interpretations of modern and classical works, and with intriguing vocal clarity, she presents a thrilling exponent for the recent wave of, and exploratory marriage between, contemporary, folk and early vocal music. Agnethe has worked with modern composers Luca Lombardi, Palle Mikkelborg, Wolfgang Rihm, Luciano Berio and John Cage, with opera, folk and film music, and with baroque orchestras and directors such as Reinard Goebel, Frieder Bernius, CoCo, and in her regular medieval group Alba with which she has released several CDs.
As a voice performer in Scandinavia Agnethe has worked with Kirsten Delholm (Hotel Proforma) in several of their productions a.o as the main contra alto soloist in Operation Orfeo and Calling Clavigo. With Jacob Schokking in (Holland House) she sings in both operas Holland House and Der Besuch. She has also performed in various modern opera productions a.o by Luca Lombardi, Bo Holten, Philip Glass, Gorrissen and in baroque operas with Concerto Copenhagen and Reinard Goebel.
Agnethes expertise is within the field of early music and folk music where she performs worldwide with well known ensembles such as Ensemble Ferrara, Sequentia, Ulv and Alba. By exploring the possibilities in the early music voice practise she has created a platform for new artist to use.
She reconstructs new/early music to medieval Norse poetry and Scandinavian medieval ballads and creates new possibilities/ and platforms for medieval music. She accompanies herself on various string instruments among them the Baltic kantele, Nordic lyre and ancient cittern and works with prerecorded music, noise and words.
Listen to O quam pulchra est af Hildegard von Bingen with Elizabeth Gaver on fiddle https://soundcloud.com/ agnethe/o-quam-pulchra-est
Listen to o Swedish folkmusik I denna ljuva sommartid with Leah Stuttard on medieval harp https://soundcloud.com/agnethe/i-denna-ljuva-sommartid
Listen to Balders Drømme by A Christensen with text from the Völuspá (Prophecy of the Seeress) https://soundcloud.com/agnethe/balders-dromme 1