Statoil grant to Mari Eriksmoen
Opera singer Mari Eriksmoen awarded the NOK 1m Statoil talent grant for classical performers.
This week saw the winner of the coveted NOK 1m Statoil talent grant for classical performers being unveiled.
28 year old coloratura soprano Mari Eriksmoen took home the substantial financial grant on Tue 15th of November.
Says the Head of the Statoil grant jury, prominent pianist Leif Ove Andsnes on the price winner’s capabilities: - Eriksmoen is already a complete stage performer that delivers highly credible and strong interpretations.
Says the elated prize winner: -This means a lot to me. Now I don’t have to work around the clock and risk losing my voice.
Eriksmoen has studied opera at Oslo’s State Academy of Music, Paris’ Conservatoire National Superieur and Copenhagen’s Opera Academy. Currently the coloratura soprano is performing in Vienna and is set to return to Oslo next year to perform as Adele in Die Fledermaus.
The three runners-up in the finals were Ina Kringlebotn, Johannes Weisser and Magnus Staveland.
The Statoil talent grant for classical performers is aimed at providing monetary support for acts that are in the early stages of their international careers, and it is hoped that the incentive can help bolster touring, promotion and launches of recordings abroad.
The jury for the Statoil talent grant for classical performers is comprised of Rolf Lennart Stensø, Orchestra Director of the The Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Tine Thing Helseth, trumpeter, Alf Richard Kraggerud, Head String Teacher at theBarratt Dues Music Institute in Oslo, Randi Stene, mezzo-soprano and Per Boye Hansen, Director of the Bergen International Festival.
Statoil, Norway’s largest oil exploration and exporting corporation, is one of Norway’s largest sponsors of areas like sports, culture, education, environmental protection and humanitarian assistance. The aim of Statoil’s sponsorship activities is to form collaborations in order to convey the corporation’s values to its customers, employees and the general public. Recommendations and selections for collaboration agreements are made with valuable advice from specialist committees and the corporation’s trusted network. These agreements are designed to be of mutual benefit for both the organization’s partners and Statoil on a long-term basis. The majority of sponsorships funds are allocated to the larger, long-term projects.
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