The Oslo-based Cikada Ensemble was founded in 1989 and is considered one of Europe’s leading contemporary music groups. The ensemble consists of nine musicians and conductor Christian Eggen, and under the Cikada banner, three autonomous formations exist: Cikada Ensemble – fl, cl, perc, pf/syn, 2 vn, va, vc, db and conductor; Cikada String Quartet; and Cikada Duo – piano and percussion.

Since the start in 1989, the ensemble has initiated innovative projects and new repertoire continuously. Contemporary music is at the core of the group’s activities, though Cikada maintains an undogmatic attitude to working across genre boundaries – resulting in joint projects with leading jazz musicians and visual artists such as Arild Andersen, Trygve Seim, Anette Peacock and Per Inge Bjørlo, amongst others.

Cikada’s repertoire consists of a core of Norwegian and Nordic works juxtaposed with carefully selected international works. The ensemble focuses both on acoustic and electroacoustic works, and through commissions from both Nordic and international composers, the ensemble continually expands its repertoire.

Central to this long term strategy, Cikada has developed a close form of collaboration with leading national and international composers for the development of individual works, portrait concerts and projects combining various art forms. The Cikada Ensemble has worked together with Bent Sørensen for several years on the portrait concert Night Windows – and with the British composer Richard Barrett on three consecutive ensemble works as well as the installation-performance project Dark Matter. Additionally, the ensemble has collaborated with composers such as Rolf Wallin, Cecilie Ore, Arne Nordheim, Karsten Fundal, Kaija Saariaho, Rolf Enström, Anders Nilsson, Magnus Lindberg, James Clarke, Stefano Gervasoni and Liza Lim. In addition, Cikada has developed portraits and concerts of music by composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, Iannis Xenakis, Franco Donatoni and Luigi Nono. Recently initiated new projects include collaborations with Åke Parmerud, Asbjørn Schaathun, Eivind Buene and James Dillon as well as a joint project with the Norwegian opera network AdOpera! on a chamber opera for Cikada Ensemble written by Norwegian composer Henrik Hellstenius with libretto by the Norwegian poet and playwright Cecilie Løveid.

While Cikada on one hand focuses on its core ensemble profile, it is also a clear ambition to be involved in collaborations with other performers, festivals and institutions with the aim of creating larger, innovative events. The above-mentioned Dark Matter is one example, in which Cikada Ensemble created a project together with the Australian ELISION Ensemble, Richard Barrett, and the Norwegian visual artist Per Inge Bjørlo. Two further examples can befound among the ensemble’s numerous CD recordings. On the ECM recording Birds and Bells, Bent Sørensen’s music is featured in a collaboration between trombonist Christian Lindberg, Oslo Sinfonietta, and Cikada; and the first complete recording of Cecilie Ore’s cycle, Tempora Mutantur, came about through the joint efforts of the Radio Deutschlandfunk Köln, the Frau Musica (nova) society, the Schlagquartett Köln, Saxofon Concentus and the Cikada Ensemble.

In its three regular formations Cikada has made frequent tours of the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe, as well as the USA, Canada, Mexico, and Australia. Cikada’s highlight appearances include performances at the Lincoln Center, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Tage für Neue Musik Zürich, Maerzmusik/Berliner Festspiele, Stockholm New Music, Gaudeamus New Music week, Viitasaari Time of Music Festival, Northern Encounters in Toronto and the Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik.

Cikada is an artistically autonomous part of New Music, the Norwegian section of the ISCM. Through this association, Cikada is a member of the Ultima Festival and contributes annually with one or more projects. In addition, Cikada collaborates with Ny Musikk’s composers group on an annual workshop during which young composers have the opportunity to work with the ensemble to develop new works and ideas.