Maja Solveig Sjelstrup Ratkje is a Norwegian composer and performer, born Dec. 29, 1973 in Trondheim. She completed composition studies at Oslo’s Norwegian State Academy of Music in 2000. Klangforum Wien and Oslo Sinfonietta are some of the performers who have performed her music worldwide. Her music has been featured in portrait concerts in Toronto and Vienna. She has also been composer-in-residence at festivals such as Other Minds in San Francisco and Nordland Music Festival, Bodo, Avanti, and others. Summer Festival in Finland. Bastad Chamber Music Festival. Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Ratkje was awarded the International Rostrum of Composers (Paris) for composers under 30 years of age, the Norwegian Edvard Prize (work of the Year twice), second prize at Russolo Foundation and the Norwegian Arne Nordheim award in 2001. In 2003, Ratkje’s solo album, Voice» was nominated for the Prix Ars Electronica Distinction award. It was made in collaboration by Jazzkammer. She was nominated in 2013 for the Nordic Council Music Prize, for her vocal work. Ratkje is a vocalist/voice user, an electronics performer/engineer, and soloist. Jaap Blonk and Joelle Leandre are also collaborators. Ratkje has written and performed her own music for film, theatre, dance, installations and many other projects. SPUNK is her partner in large-scale art installations. She often uses visual arts in her work. She has composed music for Elfriede Jelinek’s radio play, and she was part of her own opera in 2003. It was based on texts from the Nag Hammadi Library. Her own solo work has been performed with orchestras like Avanti, Klangforum Wien, and The Norwegian Radio Orchestra. Chamber Orchestra and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. You can find her scores at the Norwegian Music Information Centre. Her records are also available on Tzadik and Rune Grammofon as well as ECM, among many other labels. http://ratkje.no
