Sandra Lied Haga
combines the endless perspective of the Norwegian landscape with passion into a rich sound – resonating with audiences and musicians since her debut at Wigmore Hall at the age of 12. The winner of the Equinor Classical Music Award 2019 has performed in major concert venues worldwide, such as the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, the St. Petersburg Philharmonia, the Athenaeum Bucuresti, the Salzburger Festspielhaus and Harpa. Her concerts led her to musical centres including London, Berlin, Prague, Zürich, Budapest, Tallinn. Sandra performed under the baton of conductors such as Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Ari Rasilainen, Thomas Søndergård, Shao-Chia Lü, David Geringas and Terje Mikkelsen. The latter invited her to record her debut album with Dvořák’s Cello Concerto in B minor and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations in their original version. Her album with the Russian State Symphony Orchestra is going to be released in May 2020 at Simax Classics label.

In recognition of her participation in the Verbier Festival Academy at the age of 17, Sandra was invited to recite her own concert at the Verbier Festival. Invitations by other international festivals followed, amongst them the Salzburger Festspiele, Utrecht, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Pärnu Music Festival and Bergen International Festival. Bergen re-invited the cellist to play two concerts at the 2020 festival and Stavanger Symphony Orchestra features her as a soloist to present the music of her album performing the Rococo Variations in Stavanger. At Rosendal International Festival she will give a pre-concert with Leif Ove Andsnes.

As committed chamber musician, Sandra Lied Haga has collaborated not only with Leif Ove Andsnes, but further with artists such as Anne-Sophie Mutter as well as the scholars of the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation and the Mutter Virtuosi. Moreover, she has performed with renowned chamber music-partners including Janine Jansen, Yo-Yo Ma, Paul Lewis, Kathryn Stott, Lars Anders Tomter and Truls Mørk.

Born in Oslo in 1994, Sandra Lied Haga started playing the cello at the age of three, and was the youngest participant in the Barratt Due Institute of Music´s programme for talented children before becoming the first student of Oleg Kogan in the London Razumovsky Academy. After working with her teacher Truls Mørk for 6 years, she became Frans Helmerson’s student at the Barenboim-Said Academy in Berlin. Following her studies with Lars Anders Tomter, she is now finishing her Master of Music with Torleif Thedeen at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Sandra won numerous international awards – among them first prizes and special awards as well as grand laureates at the competitions in Tallinn, Young Musician, the Heran International Cello, Padova´s International Music, and international Chance in Moscow; furthermore the Bärenreiter, European Union, EMCY Art for Music, Young Lindeman prize and eight first awards in national competitions.

Sandra Lied Haga plays a Joannes Florenus Guidantus cello from Bologna 1730, kindly provided by Dextra Musica.