“Divine cello playing, heavenly sound, a masterly performance”
Norwegian cellist Sandra Lied Haga stands on the threshold of a major career, having won four international competitions, a number of European Prizes and the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award, previously given to Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk, Lise Davidsen and Vilde Frang a.o. She made her debut with symphony orchestra at age 10. Her rich, beautiful sound and prodigious talent have attracted attention worldwide and made her a sought after soloist, who captivates her listeners with what is described as a uniquely beautiful cello tone.
Since her Wigmore Hall debut at the age of 12, Sandra’s passionate playing and the deep feelings she expresses has resonated with audiences and musicians all over the world, in prestigious concert venues such as London’s Royal Albert Hall, Carnegie Hall, the Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory, St. Petersburg Philharmonia, London’s Wigmore Hall, the Athenaeum Bucuresti, Salzburger Festspielhaus, Tivoli Vredenburg, Philharmonic Hall of Vilnius, Verbier Festival and many more.
Recent highlights include Brahms Double Concerto for Violin and Cello with Maxim Vengerov in London’s Royal Albert Hall, Istanbul and Eskisehir, a three week tour with Midori in Japan, a new album release for Simax, and her Carnegie Hall Debut in the “Carnegie Hall Presents” series.
In 2019 she recorded her debut album featuring Dvorak’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations (original version) in the legendary Great Hall of Moscow Conservatory. The recording, released on Simax Classics/Naxos in May 2020, received overwhelming international praise by some of the leading classical music publications and radio channels, and a prestigious nomination for the Norwegian Grammy award. Her second album, presenting the newly rediscovered Rita Strohl Sonata and the Franck Sonata, was released in 2023, and two new recordings are planned.
Sandra has collaborated with a number of prominent artists such as Maxim Vengerov, Leif Ove Andsnes, Anne-Sophie Mutter, Janine Jansen, Yo-Yo Ma, Midori, Truls Mørk and Paul Lewis.
She has performed with numerous European orchestras, under conductors such as Thomas Søndergård, James Gaffigan, Juanjo Mena, Rodolfo Saglimbeni, Joana Carneiro, Nathanaël Iselin, Terje Mikkelsen, Ari Rasilainen, Marios Papadopoulos, Sergej Krylov, M° Georgios Balatsinos, Shao-Chia Lü, Michael Repper and Can Okan.
Following her participation in the Verbier Festival Academy, she was invited to give a recital at the Verbier Festival at the age of just 17. Invitations from other major international festivals followed, including the Utrecht Festival, Salzburger Festspiele, Moritzburg Festival, Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, Weilburg Schloss Festspiele, Heidelberger Frühling and Pärnu Music Festival. In addition, she is a regular guest at all the major festivals in Scandinavia.
Since 2023 she has been Artistic Director of the newly founded Kristiansand Chamber Music Festival.
Born in Oslo in 1994, Sandra started playing the cello at the age of three. A remarkably rare absolute pitch formed her intuitive musicianship from the very beginning, and she was the youngest participant ever accepted in the Barratt Due Institute of Music´s programme for gifted children. Truls Mørk was her teacher for 6 years, after studies with Oleg Kogan at the Razumovsky Academy in London from 2004-2009. Her subsequent teachers have been Frans Helmerson in Berlin, Torleif Thedeen and Lars Anders Tomter at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and Paul Watkins at Yale University.
She plays a cello by Joannes Florenus Guidantus (Bologna, 1730), provided by Dextra Musica.
Sandra Lied Haga 