Interviews in English

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 her world, accompanied by excerpts from a recent project with Katarina Barruk: ‘Avant Joik’. Link […]

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 the inheritors of our world for the project “Vannstand” (Norwegian for ‘sea level’), a project

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 enough to jump onto new possibilities that may appear suddenly because of the situation changing

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 Lotsberg. I met with the composer at her home, a twenty minutes’ drive south of

“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.”

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 best it is multi-dimensional, it is both dark and light, and in its own way

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 Best of 2013 list. On “Janus,” so many voices, vocal sounds, etc were present that

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?

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 always easy for you to adapt to different collaborative company? No, and I carefully choose