The Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen is one of the most renowned conductors in the international choral scene. Since 1990, Grete Pedersen has been Music Director of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir whose recordings were awarded the “Choc de la Musique,” “Prix d’Or’ from Diapason,” and a “Record of the Year” by Gramophone. In September 2022, she was appointed as Artistic Director of the Carmel Bach Festival, USA, for five years.

In 2023, she was part of The Nordic Choir Expedition project with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir in Helsinki, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Oslo, performing music by Werle, Strauss, Taube, Janson, Melläs, Nyström, Martland and Eriksson. Further highlights were engagements with Rundfunkchor Berlin, Slovenian Philharmonic & Choir (Brahms Requiem) and concerts with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir at the festivals in Sion and Merano as well as her engagements at the Carmel Festival 2023 with Mahler: Symphony No. 4, Karin Rehnqvist: Breaking the Ice from Arktis Arktis and Haydn: “Creation,” and others.

In the 2024/25 season, Grete Pedersen follows invitations to Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra San Francisco, Helsingborg Symphony & Choir, and Arctic Philharmonic Orchestra with a commissioned work by Ørjan Matre. Highlights of her last season with the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir will be Beethoven’s Missa solemnis, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and Julia Wolfe’s Oratorio Fire in my Mouth for women’s choir, children’s choir, and orchestra.

Grete Pedersen is a sought-after guest conductor and has worked with all prestigious European choirs. She has performed oratorios with leading Norwegian orchestras as well as with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, Yale Camerata, and Gulbenkian Orchestra & Choir.

Educated as a church musician at the Norwegian State Academy of Music, Grete Pedersen has been part of the historically informed performance movement since the early 1980s and has worked with the Freiburger Barockorchester, Oslo Bach Ensemble, Norwegian Barokkanerne, Barokksolistene, and the Drottningholm Barokkensemble, among others.

Grete Pedersen’s name stands for productions and stagings with a broad and innovative variety of styles. She has set new standards with her interpretation of early and contemporary music. In the contemporary scene, Grete Pedersen is known as a fearless advocate of new music and has commissioned and performed numerous pieces by leading composers.

BIS Records has released numerous award-winning recordings with the Norwegian Soloists Choir and works by Per Norgard, Kaija Saariaho, Fartein Valen, Alfred Janson, Knut Nystedt, Nils Henrik Asheim, Lars Petter Hagen, Edvard Grieg, Iannis Xenakis, Helmut Lachenmann, Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen, Anton Webern, Brahms, Schubert, J.S. Bach and Norwegian Folk Music. Her albums of Luciano Berio: Coro and J.S. Bach: Motets were awarded the Diapason d’Or in the years 2020 and 2018. Grete Pedersen and The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir lately received the renowned Spellermann Prize for their album Lament. The latest album release was in 2023 with Bent Sorensen: Matthew Passion with Ensemble Allegria and The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir.

In 1984 Grete Pedersen founded the Oslo Chamber Choir and worked with them for 20 years, particularly with oratorio repertoire and contemporary music. She completed her postgraduate studies in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo and studied choral conducting with Eric Ericson and orchestral conducting with Kenneth Kiesler. 

In 2019, Grete Pedersen was appointed Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian St. Olavs Order for her merit and outstanding achievements in the arts and was awarded the distinguished Lindeman Prize to honor her significant contribution to the musical life of Norway.

She has taught as a professor in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music since 1996 and is a sought-after teacher for masterclasses.

Since 1990, Grete has served as music director of The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir, one of Europe’s leading chamber choirs. The ensemble consists of 26 hand-picked, professional singers who have a tremendous ability to blend their voices, resulting in a highly distinctive choral sound. The Choir performs spectacular concerts in Norway and abroad, in traditional venues, and in non-traditional ways.

“Grete Pedersen is a phenomenal musician. Over the past three decades she’s built a world-class ensemble,” said Festival Associate Conductor Andrew Megill. “She is a deeply collaborative conductor, committed to exploring the human impulse behind any great work of art and to creating an atmosphere in which each artist is empowered to express themselves fully. Thus, she is an ideal Artistic Director for the Carmel Bach Festival. We look forward to sharing many exhilarating performances, guided by Grete’s strong leadership and loving hand.”

In 2019, Pedersen was appointed Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian St. Olav’s Order for her merit and outstanding achievements in the arts and was awarded the distinguished Lindeman Award to honor her significant contribution to the musical life of Norway.

Pedersen is an advocate for new music and has commissioned and performed numerous pieces by leading composers. One such project is “Bach in our time”— a project where composers James MacMillan, Lasse Thoresen, and Stefan Schleiermacher composed new music in dialogue with Bach’s Mass in B-Minor.

She is known for productions with wide stylistic variety presenting programs offering fascinating juxtapositions. In addition to premiering contemporary musical works, her efforts have increasingly been directed towards larger productions for choir and orchestra. She is also considered a pioneer for her work bringing Norwegian folk music and its traditions to new settings and for the arrangements based on these roots.

BIS Records has released numerous award-winning recordings by Pedersen and The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir. Her recordings of Luciano Berio: Coro and J.S. Bach: Motets were awarded the Diapason d’Or in the years 2018 and 2020. Grete Pedersen and The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir recently received the renowned Spellemann Prize for their album Lament (compositions by Lars Petter Hagen, Nils Henrik Asheim, and Arne Nordheim).

Read more about Grete Pedersen.