Sandra Lied Haga

INTRODUCTION

Norwegian cellist Sandra Lied Haga stands on the threshold of a major career, having won four international competitions, several European Prizes, and the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award, previously given to Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk and Lise Davidsen.

RECENT AND FUTURE HIGHLIGHTS

Highlights of the 2022/2023 season included Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with Maxim Vengerov in the Royal Albert Hall London, Istanbul, and Eskisehir, a new album release for Simax, and a three-week tour with Midori in Japan.

Among her projects for season 2023/2024 were a Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations concert w. the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra, and Antonín Dvořák’s Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major Op. 81 at the Risør Chamber Music Festival.

Upcoming highlights include her Debut in Carnegie Hall, in the Carnegie Hall Presents concert series, a Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations concert w. the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra, and a Rita Strohl (Great Dramatic Sonata ‘Titus et Bérénice’) & César Franck (Sonata for Cello and Piano in A Major) concert w. the Sociedad Filarmonica De Las Palmas De Gran Canaria.

BIOGRAPHY

Sandra Lied Haga made her debut with a symphony orchestra at age 10, and her rich, beautiful sound and prodigious talent have caught attention worldwide and made her a sought-after soloist, who captivates her listeners with what is described as a uniquely beautiful cello tone.

Since her Wigmore Hall debut at the age of 12, Sandra’s passionate playing and the deep feelings she expresses have resonated with audiences and musicians all over the world, in prestigious concert venues such as London’s Royal Albert Hall, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Athenaeum Bucuresti, Salzburger Festspielhaus, Tivoli Vredenburg, Verbier Festival and many more.

In 2019 she recorded her Debut Album featuring Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations (original version) in the legendary Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory. The recording, released on Simax Classics/Naxos in May 2020, has received international praise from some of the leading Classical music publications and radio channels and received a prestigious nomination for the Norwegian Grammy award Spellemannprisen. Two new recordings will be released during the upcoming seasons.

Sandra has collaborated with prominent artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Janine Jansen, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Truls Mørk, and Paul Lewis.

She has performed with numerous European orchestras, under conductors such as Thomas Søndergård, Marios Papadopoulos, James Gaffigan, Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Ari Rasilainen, Juanjo Mena, Shao-Chia Lü, David Geringas, Can Okan and Terje Mikkelsen.

Following her participation in the Verbier Festival Academy, she was invited to give a recital at the Verbier Festival at the age of just 17. Invitations from other major international festivals followed, including the Utrecht Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Moritzburg Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Weilburg Schloss Festspiele, and Pärnu Music Festival. In addition, she is a regular guest at all the major festivals in Scandinavia.

From 2023 Sandra Lied Haga is appointed Artistic Director of the newly founded Kristiansand Chamber Music Festival.

Born in Oslo in 1994, Sandra started playing the cello at the age of three. A remarkably rare absolute pitch formed her intuitive musicianship from the very beginning, and she was the youngest ever participant in the Barratt Due Institute of Music’s program for gifted children. From 2004-2009 she studied with Oleg Kogan at the Razumovsky Academy in London, followed by six years with Truls Mørk. In later years her teachers have been Frans Helmerson in Berlin, Torleif Thedeen and Lars Anders Tomter at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and Paul Watkins at Yale University.

Sandra Lied Haga plays a cello by Joannes Florenus Guidantus (Bologna, 1730), kindly provided by Dextra Musica.