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Recent Posts
accordion Agrare all Ears alto Avant Joik bass Blonk/Ratkje cello choir dance Desibel double bass Fe-mail flute guitar Joëlle Léandre Marhaug/Ratkje mezzo moods Morgenbladet orchestra organ Passing Images percussion piano Ratkje/Haltli Ratkje/Hinde Ratkje/Mori Ratkje/Westerhus sax sinfonietta Slugfield soprano SPUNK string orchestra string quartet trilogy for girls choir Trinacria trombone trumpet vinyl viola violin wind band with POING
Upcoming shows
- 14/05/22 - 31/12/50 Maja S. K. Ratkje in Arendal at Bomuldsfabriken
- 13/10/23 - 14/10/23 Musica Intima in Vancouver at Mountain View Cemetery
- 13/10/23 - 15/10/23 Tøyen Fil og Klafferi, Ergon Ensemble, Guri Glans and others in Athens at Onassis Stegi
- 19/10/23 Norrlandsoperans Symfoniorkester in Umeå at Norrlandsoperan
- 11/11/23 The Percussion Ensemble of The Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo at Norges Musikkhøgskole
Category Archives: Interviews in English
Maja S. K. Ratkje in conversation with Ragnhild Eskeland Wesenberg
A Norwegian composer and musician, Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, has a highly productive career to look back on. Not that it’s over any time soon; it has still only just begun. In this episode she gives us a glimpse into … Continue reading
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Interview in Chain D.L.K.
By Vito Camarretta May 4, 2021 “What could be more natural than kids making sounds as part of a composition that’s about our own future?”. By these words, the brilliant composer Maja S.K.Ratjke introduced the idea of giving voice to … Continue reading
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Interview in Loop (in English and Chilean)
by Guillermo Escudero. Published at www.loop.cl May 2021 Maja S. K. Ratkje with her wide expressive range through her voice, this one becomes the main instrument and electronics are an extension of it and it is not only to accompany, … Continue reading
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Interview in TQ Zine
by Rory Carr, TQ38/39/40, a TUSK Virtual special triple issue, published Jan 2021 “It’s hard to keep up the mood and inspiration in these times, but it helps to keep myself busy with taking on unfinished tasks and being flexible … Continue reading
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Svartskog, 6 October 2020
A new CD with works by Maja S. K. Ratkje: Pictures From a Sinking City and Tale of Lead and Frozen Light, written for string orchestra and performed by the Trondheim Soloists and their leader and artistic director, Geir Inge … Continue reading
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Fifteen Questions Interview with Maja Ratkje
“Music is communicated through interpretation, and the performers as well as the listeners are active in the process. Along with that come the circumstances like the room and the situation the music is performed in. The whole context becomes a part of the interpretation.” Continue reading
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Noise and the Voice: exploring the thresholds of vocal transgression
Short interview made by Aaron Cassidy, published in Cassidy, Aaron and Einbond, Aaron (2013) Noise in and as music. University of Huddersfield, Huddersfield. ISBN 9781862181182 What is noise (music) to you? Noise music is liberating, life-celebrating, and demanding. At its … Continue reading
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Interview in Seven1878
I had never heard of Maja S. K. Ratkje until about three months ago while coming across a recorded collaboration with vocal tormentor, Joachim Montessuis, entitled, “Janus,” through Montessuis’ brilliant Erratum label. More info on “Janus” is available in SEVEN1878’s … Continue reading
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Maja S.K. Ratkje interviewed by Lasse Marhaug
In the shared consensus, it seems to take a lot of effort to speak up against our shared reality, because that would be questioning the fundaments of our society – that profit is the basic, untouchable force for growth. How far are we willing to go? Norway is better equipped than all other oil counties to stop investing in tar sand and fishing territories. How can we expect other countries to take action if we, along with some dictatorships, are among the worst in the class? Continue reading
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Maja S K Ratkje: a unique voice
hcmf//: We talk to Maja about finding her voice, both as a performer and a composer, about the liberation that comes from improvisation and about how her music managed to upset the United Nations… Continue reading
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Opera for babies
The Guardian Nov. 15 2012 Norwegian composer and performer Maja Ratkje has worked with classical groups and metal bands. But it is her opera for babies that has brought her international fame by Alfred Hickling At an arts centre in … Continue reading
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Phantom Circuit #98
Featuring an interview with Ikue Mori and Maja S. K. Ratkje, with excerpts from their improvised live set of music for laptop computers and voice at the Lanternhouse in Ulverston, Cumbria, on 29th March. (The Mori/Ratkje part starts around 17′). … Continue reading
Interview in ATTN:Magazine
In the run up to her live collaboration with Ikue Mori, Norweigan performer/composer Maja Ratkje talks about collaboration, experimental music and vocal limits. Article by Jack Chuter You’ve worked with an eclectic array of collaborators throughout your career. Is it … Continue reading
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The Voice That Came In From the Cold: An Interview with Maja S.K. Ratkje
Dusted Magazine:
Jean-Claude Gevrey speaks with avant-garde composer Maja Ratkje about her new solo recording on Tzadik, curating festivals, and the role feminism plays in new music. Continue reading
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Trinacria: Inspired by Occult Confusion
Metal Nose:
‘Travel Now Journey Infinitely’ is a breath-taking journey through innovative sounds, a trance-inducing experience without boundaries. The founders of the band: Ivar, Maja and Hild tell us everything about this newborn challenge and share with us their eloquent visions on their creation. Continue reading
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On Henri Bergson and Improvisation
-In my opinion, music is so far from language, it is actually incorrect to say that music is a language of it’s own. It is entirely different by nature. Language is however connected to the way we look at scores, and the academia on music is often so connected to the way music is represented in language/score that sound is often forgotten. Continue reading
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Long interview with The Wire
The English music mag The Wire interviewed me in my home, in Svartskog. (The snow in the picture is real!) You have to order the issue to read this, sorry I am not allowed to publish it until it’s out … Continue reading
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Music is the sound of every thing
MIC:
SPUNK is the only Norwegian all female improvisation ensemble. In their ears everything is music and after ten years the band still wants to reinvent sound. -I’ve been asked if it’s really true that we are all girls in SPUNK, relates Maja Ratkje, which says something about how rare that is. Continue reading
Northern Lights
Washington Post Express:
Ratkje’s vibrant vocal fluctuations can make Bjork sound like an “American Idol” candidate. “I like to use the limits of what is possible with the voice,” Ratkje said, which includes whistles, growls, clicks and whisper-to-a-scream exhalations.
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The dada voice of Maja Ratkje
Interzona 2005, the original Q’s & A’s. When did you decide to become an artist and how did you choose what way to follow? I knew from when I was very little that I wanted to express myself through creative … Continue reading
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