ENSEMBLE ALLEGRIA - Allegria is Italian for merriment and enjoyment, and indeed it was the pleasure of playing together that led a group of music students to launch the orchestra in 2007. Ensemble Allegria was awarded the Statoil Talent Award for classical music for 2012. The orchestra has been managed independently by its own members since its founding, and the Norwegian Academy of Music has played a significant supportive role. Its permanent concertmaster and artistic director is Maria Angelika Carlsen. The Ensemble has released several CDs - among them Allegria (2013), Volt22 (2015), Mozart/Schoenberg (2017) and Asheim: Høgsongen / Tchaikovsky: Serenade (2019). The album Britten/Hagen/Strauss was released on October 21, 2022! More information on ensembleallegria.com Artist photos: Ingrid Pop & Helge Brekke