A brand-new album of orchestral works by Therese Ulvo is out now on LAWO Classics. Woven Fingerprints (LWC1382) features four orchestral pieces, each performed by a different orchestra and conductor, giving Ulvo's music four distinct orchestral readings across a single recording.
The album opens with its title work, Woven Fingerprints, performed by the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra under Edward Gardner with soloists Ellen Ugelvik and Andreas Ulvo. Written for two independent piano parts set against full orchestra, the concerto traces the interplay between the two soloists' individual voices as they move between dialogue and unison — an idea that gives the album its title and its throughline. Ugelvik and Ulvo, both established interpreters of new Norwegian repertoire, bring a close, longstanding musical partnership to the recording.
The remaining works on the album — performed respectively by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra under Jeri Lynne Johnson, the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra under Andris Poga, and the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra under Vasily Petrenko — extend Ulvo's orchestral writing across different scales and moods, from dense, tightly woven tuttis to more sparsely scored, chamber-like passages. Heard together, the four works trace a single compositional voice as it is shaped by four different orchestras and conductors. Read more about the release here.
Therese Birkelund Ulvo is a Norwegian composer whose orchestral works are marked by intricate textures, layered rhythmic writing, and a distinct ear for orchestral colour. Woven Fingerprints brings together a cross-section of her orchestral output, including her first concerto for two pianos. Read more about the composer.
Listen to the album below:
Woven Fingerprints (2015) for two pianos and orchestra
pf.pf; 2.2.2.2/4.2.3.1/timp.3perc.hp.2pf/str (30 min)
Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor Edward Gardner
Soloists Ellen Ugelvik and Andreas Ulvo
2(pic).2.2(bcl).2/4.2.2.1/timp.2perc./hp/str (5 min)
The Norwegian Radio Orchestra
Conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson
3.3.3.3/4.3.3.1/timp.3perc.hp/str. (12 min)
Stavanger Symphony Orchestra
Conductor Andris Poga
3(pic).2.3.2/4.2.2.1/3perc.hp/str (9 min)
Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor Vasily Petrenko
Other News! This Saturday, August 29 at 19.00, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra will perform Ulvo's most recent orchestral work, Friction Forward (2025) at the Hardanger Music Festival in Hardangerhallen, Norway. Tickets and more info here.
