Kirsten Bråten Berg

Kirsten Bråten Berg was born in Arendal, Norway, in 1950. She is a silversmith and has her own workshop in Nomeland, Hylestad. However, she is better known as a musician than as a silversmith, both in Norway and abroad. Since 1973 she has lived in Setesdal, where she has played a major role in maintaining the local folk music traditions. Recently she has begun to use folk music in new contexts, including collaboration with jazz bassist Arild Andersen and contemporary composer Jan Erik Pettersen and lyricist Paal-Helge Haugen. She has released a number of records and has won the Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy) several times. Kirsten was the double winner of the National Contest for Traditional Music in 1987, and has toured in Norway and abroad.

May 2011