Lars Petter Hagen

About Lars Petter Hagen

His music has been called an art of "resignation," silent despair, and reduction, and he describes himself as a melancholic. But if all this suggests a man in retreat from society, Lars Petter Hagen's career suggests quite the opposite. As a composer he has attracted international acclaim for his work, which maintains a unique and questioning stance towards the great musical milestones of the past.

The UK's Gramophone magazine described him as "essentially swearing in church, at the same time as crafting the most heavenly sounds this side of the pearly gates," and called his 2014 album of symphonic music performed by the Oslo Philharmonic "genuinely visionary…the most important new music disc to arrive for a long time." Works such as Norwegian Archives, Tveitt-Fragments, and The Artist's Despair Before the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins grapple with the heavy burden of history and the anxiety of influence for an artist in an age of retromania.

Between 2009 and 2017, he was Artistic Director of Ultima, Norway's largest contemporary music festival. Under his leadership, the festival achieved the highest audience ratings in its 25-year history. From 2017 he curated the centenary celebrations of the Oslo Philharmonic, and since 2022 he has served as Director of the Bergen International Festival.