BIOGRAPHY
Ragnhild Berstad began her musical career as a guitarist and music teacher. She later studied music theory at the University in Oslo and composition with Lasse Thoresen and Olav Anton Thommessen at the Norwegian State Academy of Music, where she received her diploma in 1997.
Berstad´s music has been performed both at home and abroad, on festivals as ISCM-
World Music Days in Seoul; Focus! festival in New York; Bourges Festival for electro acoustic music in France; The Ultima Festival in Norway, among others.
Her productions range from solo and chamber works – with and without electronics - to music for choir and orchestra.
The microphone is an essential tool in most of Berstad´s works. It brings the ear closer to the sound source and reveals qualities in the sound production that are not easily perceived by the naked ear. Berstad says: "I want to create a sonic space that insists on an intimate, auditive consciousness. Music has an inherent ability to reveal the extended moment. This has inspired me to create a number of low-voiced pieces in which proximity to the sound source is a recurrent theme and the form of the music is the result of my contemplation on the inside of the sound texture."
Berstad received the Edvard Prize in 2001 for the work Emutatio and in 2005 for Recludo. In 2003 the CD Respiro(Aurora 5021) with Berstad´s music was nominated for the Spellemansprisen (Norwegian Grammy).
Since 2001 Berstad has received the Norwegian State Guarantee income for Artists. As member of the Norwegian Society of Composers, she has held several tasks, including for six years a member of the Artistic Board.