Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen
Percussionist
How would you describe the relationship to your instrument?
My relationship to my instrument is constantly evolving and expanding, as I also evolve and expand as a performer-composer, and as my notion of the term “instrument” itself is continuously evolving and expanding alongside my artistic practice.
How do you practise listening?
I practise listening by being outside in nature, preferably the forest. Recently I was sitting under an old spruce, with five trunks connected to one root, listening to the branches and the wood move and creak in the wind. As I sat there a fox walked by on its nightly hunt, and because of the wind it didn’t notice my presence. The fox was telling me that when you really listen, unforeseen and quite magical things might happen.
Loud or quiet?
I love loud and noisy. But I love quiet as well. And I need both in my life.
Born 1983. Ane Marthe Sørlien Holen is a Norwegian percussionist, performer, improviser, composer and writer. She is constantly challenging herself as an artist, seeking to extend herself, finding new sounds, new expressions, including voice and body as natural parts of her instrument.
Ane Marthe writes text and music, and her compositions usually combine these elements. She is also an improviser, both as a soloist and in various constellations. Her artistic practice is currently concerned with nature and the outdoors, seeking ways to connect with the more-than-human, and imagining other possible worlds and futures.
Besides her own work she plays with Pinquins, Ensemble neoN, The Touchables and Plexus Polaire. She collaborates with artists such as Guro Skumsnes Moe, Håvard Skaset, Jessie Marino, Inga Margrete Aas, Jean-Philippe Gross, Stéphane Garin, Thore Warland, Solveig Styve Holte, Mina Weider, Kjersti Alm Eriksen, Janne-Camilla Lyster, Maia Urstad, Simon Løffler, amongst many others.
With Plexus Polaire she won the Hedda Prize 2022 for Best Audiovisual Theatre, for the music in the show Moby Dick. The evening length work I N T E R V A L L (Pinquins/Alm Eriksen 2023) is nominated as “Composition of the year” 2024 by The Norwegian Composers Society. Ane Marthe/Pinquins/Ensemble neoN is nominated for the Norwegian Grammy Award 2024 for the album My favorite thing with music by Jan Martin Smørdal.
In 2025 Ane Marthe will perform at festivals and concert series such as: Darmstadt International Festival (Germany), Time and music (Finland), Kalv Festival (Sweden), nyMusikk Trondheim (Norway) and Riverrun (France).