KITCHEN ORCHESTRA is based in Stavanger, Norway, bringing together talented and ambitious musicians from the region with international musicians and composers, through unique orchestral projects.
Our aim is to develop a sound and style of playing that explores the relationship between the individual and the collective through an improvisational approach. The orchestra works with modern improvised music in the grey area between contemporary music and jazz. We draw our members from a variety of backgrounds, like the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, the local jazz scene, as well as graduates and teachers from the University of Stavanger.
For some time, Stavanger has produced some of Norway´s most profiled improvising musicians, a trend we seek to reflect and build on. So far, KITCHEN ORCHESTRA has established a pool of 22 professional, local musicians – with room for steady expansion. For each concert, the instrumentation typically varies from between 8-16 musicians.
The orchestra has no permanent musical leadership but rather opts to draw on a diversity of internal/external composers and orchestral leaders in order to stretch boundaries, thus cooking up different flavours for each individual project.
In order to ensure fruitful cultural and musical exchanges, the orchestra sets up workshops with other ensembles. This provides not only a meeting place for musicians, but also encourages valuable expertise and knowledge transactions.
Founders: Petter Frost Fadnes / Didrik Ingvaldsen / Gunhild Seim / Nils Henrik Asheim
KITCHEN ORCHESTRA is supported by Norsk Kulturråd, and also receives funding from Fond for Lyd og Bilde.
