Mari Samuelsen, violin
A child of musical parents, Mari first picked up a violin at the tender age of three. A year later, she was taken up as a student of the internationally acclaimed Norwegian violinist Arve Tellefsen. He taught her for ten years. After, Mari studied with Stephan Barratt Due at the Barratt Due Music Institute in Oslo . Today,she is a student of the legendary professor Zakhar Bron at the Zürich University of the Arts.
Mari Samuelsen has played several times as a soloist with major Norwegian and international orchestras like the Oslo Philharmonic, the Oslo Symphony Orchestra, the Bergen Philharmonic,Trondheim Symphony Orch. the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, the Vilnius Philharmonic , the Budapest Chamber Orchestra and several festival orchestras. Her violin has taken her, often together with her brother,cellist Håkon Samuelsen, to venues across Europe , the U.S. and Asia.
In 1998, the siblings performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo 's City Hall. A short time after the concert, the two were invited to Monaco to play for the Royal Family in a packed Salle Garnier in Monte Carlo.
Mari Samuelsen is often to see in major festival programs; Oslo Chambermusic festival,Bergen Int. festival,Stavanger festival,Bad Kissingen,Radio France festival, Seji Ozawa Academy,Septembre Musical(Montreux) and Verbier Festival&Academy. During these festivals, she has played with musicians like Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Lawrence Power, Håkan Hagegård, Arve Tellefsen, Stefan Tönz, Igor Levit,Julian Rachlin,Nicolai Znaider,Adrian Brendel,Danjulo Ishizaka,Mari Kodama, Kirill Troussov,L.Maisky,Sylvia Schwartz and Joshua Bell.
In 2001 Mari gave ceveral concerts in Moscow,among others in Kremlin and Tschaikowsky Hall,invited by the Vladimir Spivakov Foundation.
In November 2003, the siblings were invited by Sotheby's in London to promote two instruments by Antonio Stradivari the auction house were selling. Mari's handling of the 1716 "ex-Nachez" violin was featured in several national newspapers as well as on BBC radio and BBC World Service.
In june 2005 Mari and Håkon made their Carnegie Hall debut with great success.At the same tour they gave concert at Washington's 'Wolf Trap' for 7000 people broadcasted live at NPR.
Mari Samuelsen has received several prizes including three Norwegian cultural honor-prizes.She has also got many national and international scholarships.Future concerts include,concerts in Bad Kissingen Festival,tour in Germany as soloists in Brahms double concerto, concerts in Swizerland and Norway.Among others with Leif Ove Andsnes.
Mari Samuelsen plays a fine G.B. Guadagnini (1753) kindly on loan to her fom an anonymous owner,and a Domunique Peccatte bow owned by Sparebanken Hedmark.
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