Martin Ødegaard

Martin Ødegaard is an award winning composer and folk singer from Telemark, Norway. He studied folk-music at Telemark university, and composition at the Norwegian Academy of Music with among others; Henrik Hellstenius, Lasse Thoresen and Asbjørn Schaathun as his main mentors.

His music has been performed by ensembles like; Oslo Sinfonietta, Athelas Sinfonietta Copenhagen, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, The Norwegian Soloist Choir and others.

To write new music with authentic folk-elements into contemporary sound-images, has been one of Ødegaard’s musical signatures. This can be heard clearly in works like: “Concerto for hardangerfiddle and sinfonietta” and ”Quinghai mountain aria”.

Ødegaard takes often advantage of "original" musical materials. He stretches them into different directions, projecting them into a new palette of sounds, this gives the listener an intense and grasping experience. This can clearly be experienced in works like: “KOMM”, “PAX” and “Readings of Schoenberg”.

Sometimes music is elevated when paired with one or more art forms. This becomes obvious when Ødegaard’s music meets on stage dancers in productions like: ”Bæ- re” (2012), "Underlandet" (2015), "Habitat" (2018) and "Between time" (2020). (Rom for Dans , Oslo.)

Ødegaard often works with different combinations of instruments and voices, with a specific focus on creative timbre treatment. This can for example be heard in "PAX" and "Trachea".