Katharina Hager-Saltnes

Cellist Katharina Hager-Saltnes grew up in Krefeld in the west of Germany. She chose her instrument early: at six years old she went to a concert where she spotted a boy around seven playing the cello.

− He looked so sweet, a bit “Norwegian”, with blond hair and legs that were too short to reach the ground, she says.

− After the concert, I had decided: I want to play the cello!

After studying with her first teacher in Krefeld, she studied with Wolfgang Boettcher, among others, at the School of Music in Berlin, Janos Starker in the US and the Amadeus Quartet.

− What gives me the most pleasure in my work as a musician, is striving to be “inside” the music; understanding the music and conveying it to others. It's a challenging and rewarding process.

She was engaged by the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra in 1999 and has had great experiences on both large stages and in smaller formats:

− It's very important to me to reach the audience, like when we "told" a story about Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Terje Tønnesen. I also had great experiences with the orchestra at great international arenas like Carnegie Hall and Musikverein in Vienna.

− Fond of the Viennese classics

Katharina is very fond of chamber music and Baroque music.

− We don’t play much of this music in the Oslo Philharmonic, unfortunately … of what we do play, I love the Viennese classics!

When she is in the audience, she likes to have some knowledge of the programme in advance.

− It helps to read a little about the work in advance of the concert, or even better: to hear the conductor say something about the work. That can lead to it being a better experience.