Sissel Vera Pettersen

Sissel Vera Pettersen is a multifaceted Norwegian artist. A sound improvisor and composer who fuses highly creative vocal techniques with live electronic processing, and also a brilliant sax player and musical collaborator. Her diverse recorded work can be heard in over 40 international album releases, and she has toured Europe, USA, Canada, Middle East and Africa. She is artistic director of acclaimed Norwegian vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices, and has collaborated with Chick Corea, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Marilyn Mazur, Lionel Loueke, Jon Balke, John Hollenbeck, Theo Bleckmann, Mikkel Ploug, Nikolaj Hess, Christian Wallumrød, Terje Isungset, Maja Ratkje, Randi Pontoppidan and Jaromir Honzak. She regularly collaborates within contemporary dance and theatre, both as a performer, composer and musician, and she is also a visual artist, exhibiting paintings and graphic prints. "Her voice a transparent gossamer of silk." Hers is an instrument that can shape sound and syllable, making it the messenger of every articulation whether it is a whisper, an ululation or a prance on the edge of a scream." -All about Jazz (USA) "Capable of producing sustained lines of the utmost purity, wild ululations and the occasional melodic line that simply disappears off the treble clef, Pettersen's voice is an instrument of extraordinary flexibility. ...one of those powerful emotional jolts that really stirs the soul." -The Arts Desk (UK)