Sidsel Walstad

Right from playing her first tones at the harp, as a 9-year-old Trondheim girl, Sidsel had her clear goal: She was going to become a harpist! – And her dream came true!

After studies in Oslo, Indiana, and Copenhagen, she has lived out her dream as a sought-after musician, both as a soloist with her own projects and as a chamber musician. She is also a solo harpist in the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, which she previously did in the Norwegian Opera Orchestra as well.

One of the most exciting things about Sidsel is her ability to cross genre and break the boundaries of what harp music can be. With her electric harps, she has become a pioneer in exploring new musical landscapes, where fuzz and funky rhythms are is big contrasts of the more traditional acoustic harp. Her musical versatility has led to collaborations with musicians and artists as: Stian Carstensen, Stig Brenner, Ibou Cissokho, Karpe, Ne-Yo, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Silje Nergaard, Solveig Kringlebotn, Secret Garden, Helene Bøksle and many more. She has been on several tours in her home country Norway, abroad and has been invited to many festivals.

In autumn 2018, her the album “sidsel” was released, an album with focus on the electric harp. Together with Arild Torvik and Marcus Lewin on drums and electronics, she has made instrumental pop music with the electric harp in the lead role. It created great interest in the media and not least among the audience. Sidsel played a sold-out release concert at Belleville, Cosmopolite in Oslo.

Another unique project Sidsel has been involved in is the collaboration with the “ice musician” Terje Isungset. On Terje´s initiative, Sidsel was involved in the development of various ice harps. They have played together all around the world, for example: inside a glacier in Italy, on the mountain tops around Geilo, Ål and in Washington in the USA!

Sidsel is quite simply a harpist completely out of the ordinary. An artist who surprises and enchants his audience.