Together with its position on the periphery, this has allowed Orkester Nord and conductor Martin Wåhlberg to shape an orchestra entirely from scratch, answering to artistic priorities throughout every aspect of its organization and development.

Through a national, highly selective, and competitive scheme, backed by national trusts and partnerships, musicians are carefully selected and specially trained via extensive and explorative programmes. The result is a fully collaborative approach and a total devotion to the particularly strong musical commitment and search for original expression and perfection that underlies Orkester Nord’s productions.

Under the impetus of conductor Martin Wåhlberg, the orchestra focuses on the operatic output of the late eighteenth century by centring on Mozart and the musical landscape from which his music emerges, especially the French repertoire (for instance through their celebrated recording of Grétry’s opera Raoul Barbe Bleue).

Another key focus area is music from the North of Europe, and especially the dramatic aspects of religious music (for instance through their award-winning recording “Pfleger: The Life and Passion of the Christ” and productions of Bach’s Saint John Passion). A third focus area, still centring above all on the dramatic and theatrical aspects of eighteenth-century music, is the operatic output of Händel.

Orkester Nord has been invited to leading festivals throughout Europe, including events in France, Belgium, Poland, Spain, and Great Britain and appears frequently on Norwegian stages. Orkester Nord has been celebrated for their recordings, first on French label K617 on Harmonia Mundi, and later on the Aparté label. The orchestra’s recording of Bach cantatas was awarded five “diapasons”, and summed up as a “first class discovery” by the Diapason Magazine. Orkester Nord collaborates regularly with some of the foremost musical personalities on today’s scene, including world-class opera soloists such as Ian Bostridge, Sonia Prina, Ann Hallenberg, Max Emanuel Cencic, Sophie Karthäuser, and Nuria Rial and has appeared on radio and on television broadcasts in Norway and France.

Orkester Nord is characterized by its youthful energy and its freshness of approach and has been praised for its musical inventiveness and fascinating discoveries. Critics often underscore the players’ captivating, energetic drive and their high quality of performance. Orkester Nord plays a key role in exploring new aspects of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century music.