
Seven commissions on the program

Season Opener
Klaus Mäkelä
Anders Hillborg
Gustav Mahler

Ung Filharmoni
Pekka Kuusisto
Tine Thing Helseth
Johan Svendsen
Sergei Prokofiev
Nico Muhly

Eva Ollikainen
Maria Angelika Carlsen
Bjørn Kruse
Ludwig van Beethoven

Thomas Søndergård
Leif Ove Andsnes
Ørjan Matre
Richard Strauss

Easter Concert
Aivis Greters
Oslo Philharmonic Choir
Johannes Brahms
Igor Stravinsky
Pēteris Vasks
Herman Vogt

Osmo Vänskä
Martin Fröst
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Sauli Zinovjev
Anders Hillborg has composed a new piece in tribute to Gustav Mahler, which will be premiered on the season opener 28 August. Hell Mountain is a co-commisioned piece dedicated to Klaus Mäkelä, who will conduct the Norwegian premiere. The title refers to the Höllenbirge mountain range, which towers above Mahler's composing hut in Upper Austria – a landscape often evoked in his musicals depictions of the surrounding nature.
In October, the American composer Nico Muhly is featured with his trumpet concerto Doom Painting. The piece is written for the trumpeter Tine Ting Helseth, who appears as the soloist at the concert on 2 October.
Five weeks later, the first new Norwegian piece of the season is performed – Bjørn Kruse's Unfolding Moments. This violin concerto was composed for the orchestra's own violinist, Maria Angelika Carlsen, who will be the soloist at the world premiere on 6 November. In this work, new musical ideas continuously unfold, with the solo violin weaving them together.
The Norwegian composer Hermann Vogt has to pieces on the program this season. The first work, Hymn – with lyrics by Edgar Allan Poe – is premiered at our Christmas Concerts at the end of 2025. The second, an orchestral version of Light Shall Shine Out of Darkness, will have its premiere at our Easter Concerts. This piece is also a part of a portrait album that the orchestra recorded last year, under the baton of Aivis Greters. The record will be released on LAWO Classics sometime in 2025.
On 26 and 27 February 2026, you can experience Ørjan Matre’s Piano Concerto. The work was written for pianist Leif Ove Andsnes, who will, of course, give the world premiere. Matre has composed several works for us in the past and is regarded as one of Norway’s most acclaimed orchestral composers of his generation.
The final commissioned work of the season will be performed on 16 April 2026. Taste of Metal is a co-commission by Finnish composer Sauli Zinovjev and will be conducted by fellow Finn Osmo Vänskä.