Kirsten Bråten Berg

Kirsten Marie Bråten Berg (born 7 January 1950 in Arendal, Norway) is a Norwegian traditional folk singer, silversmith and government scholar. She is currently living in Valle in the Setesdal area of southern Norway. She trained as a silversmith at the Torleiv H. Bjørgums Vocational College (Oslo Yrkesskole an Torleiv H. Bjørgums) in Setesdal and then set up her own workshop there, in Nomeland.

She began singing traditional Norwegian folk songs in the 1970s and since the late 1970s has given concerts and made recordings, winning Spellemannprisen awards (the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammy award) in 1979 and 1988. She met the bass player Arild Andersen in 1990 and became a member of his group in 1992.

First verse of the Norwegian folksong Heiemo og Nykkjen ("Heiemo and the Water Sprite")
Kirsten Bråten Berg, accompanied by Ale Møller.

Problems playing this file? See media help.

Bråten Berg's interest in the Norwegian folksong tradition has led her to meet and learn from older Norwegian musicians and people or from recordings of their music-making. Alongside figures such fiddler Hallvard Bjørgum, she exemplifies those Norwegian folk musicians trying to carry their tradition into modern times.

In 2005, she was made a Knight First Class of The Royal Norwegian Order of St. Olav in recognition of her work as a performer and ambassador of Norwegian culture.

She has also collaborated with West African musicians on the CD From Senegal to Setesdal.

Honors

Select discography

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Knut Kristiansen
Recipient of the Vossajazzprisen
1991
Succeeded by
Dag Arnesen
Preceded by
Bjørn Kjellemyr
Recipient of the Buddyprisen
1995
Succeeded by
No award in 1996
Preceded by
Sidsel Endresen
Recipient of the Radka Toneff Memorial Award
1997
Succeeded by
Karin Krog
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, March 08, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.