Norwegian cellist Sandra Lied Haga stands on the threshold of a major career, having already won four international competitions and many major awards in Scandinavia – including the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award in 2019. Her rich, beautiful sound and prodigious talent have caught attention worldwide.
Since her Wigmore Hall debut at the age of 12, Sandra’s passionate playing and the deep feelings she expresses has resonated with audiences and musicians all over the world, including musical centers like New York, Berlin, Prague, London, Zürich, Budapest, Warsaw and Tallinn. As an orchestra or chamber soloist she has performed at concert venues including the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, Wigmore Hall, the Athenaeum Bucuresti, Salzburger Festspielhaus and Reykjavik’s Harpa.
Sandra has performed with many European orchestras, under conductors such as James Gaffigan, Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Ari Rasilainen, Thomas Søndergård, Juanjo Mena, Shao-Chia Lü, Bjarte Engeset, Peter Szilvay, Ingar Bergby, David Geringas, and Terje Mikkelsen.
In 2019 she has together with conductor Terje Mikkelsen and the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia «Evgeny Svetlanov» recorded her Debut Album featuring Dvořák’s B minor Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations (original version) in legendary Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory. The recording, released on Simax Classics/Naxos in May 2020, has received international praise by some of the leading Classical music publications and received a prestigious nomination for the Norwegian Grammy award Spellemannprisen.
Following her participation in the Verbier Festival Academy, Sandra was invited to give a recital at the Verbier Festival at the age of just 17. Invitations from other major international festivals followed, including the Salzburger Festspiele, Utrecht Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Baden-Baden, Pärnu Music Festival, Bell’Arte Frankfurt and Weilburg Schloss Festspiele. In addition, Sandra is a regular guest at the major festivals in Norway and Scandinavia, including Bergen International Festival, Rosendal International Festival, Risør, Oslo, Stavanger, Fjord Classics, Valdres, Fejø and Vayla International Festivals.
As a committed chamber musician, Sandra has collaborated with a number of prominent artists such as Janine Jansen, Anne-Sophie Mutter and the scholars of Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation, Leif Ove Andsnes, Yo-Yo Ma, Truls Mørk, Paul Lewis, Kathryn Stott, Lars Anders Tomter, Piers Lane, Gordon Back, Håvard Gimse, Christian Ihle Hadland and Henning Kraggerud.
Born in Oslo in 1994, Sandra started playing the cello at the age of three, and was the youngest ever participant in the Barratt Due Institute of Music´s programme for gifted children. Her teachers have included Oleg Kogan at the London Razumovsky Academy, Frans Helmerson at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin, Truls Mørk, Lars Anders Tomter, Torleif Thedeen at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and Paul Watkins at Yale University. She participated in the Crescendo Mentor Programme from 2019-2021.
Sandra’s many international awards include 1. Prizes in Tallinn Young Musician, Heran International Cello Competition, Padova International Music Competition and International Chance Competition in Moscow. She was also the recipient of Grand Prix Laureates, The Bärenreiter Prize, European Union Prize and EMCY Art for Music Prize. Norwegian awards include the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award in 2019, The Young Lindeman Prize and 8 national 1. Prizes.
Sandra Lied Haga plays a cello by Joannes Florenus Guidantus (Bologna, 1730), kindly provided by Dextra Musica.