Felix Mendelssohn: String Symphony no. 13 - "Sinfoniesatz" Ensemble Allegria Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo April 9th, 2013 The italian word Allegria means cheerfulness. And it is the joy of making music together that drove a group of music students to found the orchestra in 2007. Ensemble Allegria consists of 20 musicians from the age 20 to 26. The orchestra runs independently by its musicians, with The Norwegian Academy of Music as an important contributor. The Concert master and artistic leader of the orchestra is Maria Angelika Carlsen. Ensemble Allegria has already featured many exciting projects during The Bergen International Festival, The Hardanger Music Festival and Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival. They have also worked with international reknown artists such as Tine Thing Helseth, Christian Ihle Hadland, Martin Fröst and Arve Tellefsen. Ensemble Allegria has done projects together with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Oslo Cathedral Choir and Oslo Sinfonietta. In august 2012 they recorded their debut album Allegria with music by composers such as Grieg, Kvandal and Nystedt. The album will be released on LAWO classics in spring 2013. In november 2012, Ensemble Allegria was awarded the Statoil talent scholarship of 1 million NOK, as the first ensemble ever to receive this prize. visit us at www.ensembleallegria.com