Vivianne Sydnes is Cantor of Oslo Cathedral and artistic director of Oslo Cathedral Choir. Her conducting work includes both a cappella repertoire and large-scale works for choir and orchestra. She has given world premieres of works by composers such as Lasse Thoresen, Torbjørn Dyrud, Andrew Smith, Martin Ødegaard og Gisle Kverndokk. In her work with Oslo Cathedral Choir, she has maintained and enhanced the choir’s profile and position within Norway’s musical life. She is involved in developing the Church of Norway's cultural and liturgical programme. Sydnes is professor of choral conducting at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. She is responsible for the undergraduate programme in choral direction at the academy, and also teaches students on the church music programmes. She took her bachelor’s degree in church music at the Norwegian Academy of Music and a masters diploma in choral conducting from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. Between 2002 and 2012 she was cantor in Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, and has also conducted the Oslo-based Nova Chamber Choir and the Norwegian National Youth Choir. Vivianne Sydnes is often engaged as a guest conductor by choirs elsewhere in Norway – with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, among others – and in Europe. She has initiated and conducted several recordings, including Nidaros Cathedral Choir’s recording of Out of Darkness by Torbjørn Dyrud, which was nominated for a Grammy in the category “Best choral performance” in 2014.