Kristin Norderval

Kristin Norderval

freelance musician and researcher,

MishMash role: Member · WP1 , WP3

Kristin Norderval – composer/vocalist/improviser As both a composer and singer, Kristin Norderval is inspired by hybridity, interactivity and the idea that everything we do is site-specific. In her operas, chamber works, sound installations, and music for dance and theater, she blends acoustic and electronic sound, home-made instruments, voices, machines, and the acoustic resonance of space. In her solo works she processes her voice in real time often combining it with prerecorded sounds to create complex sonic layers and unusual soundscapes. Custom controllers allow her to manipulate the processed sound with physical gestures. Her work with Pauline Oliveros over two decades was a primary influence in combining structural rigor with improvisation. Having trained in both composition and classical voice, Kristin first earned her living as a soprano soloist with a focus on baroque music and contemporary music, particularly American composers from the New York School. She performed and recorded works by, and often alongside, composers such as Philip Glass, John Cage, Pauline Oliveros, Steve Reich, Annea Lockwood, David Lang, Tania Leon, Anne Le Baron, Frances White, Christian Wolff, George Crumb and many others. During this time 7 operas were written specifically for her. Returning to composition after her 40th birthday, Norderval´s compositions have received critical acclaim. Her solo CD Aural Histories was listed by The New Yorker music critic Alex Ross as one of “Ten Notable Classical Music Recordings of 2012”. Her opera The Trials of Patricia Isasa (2016) won Quebec´s OPUS prize in two categories: best contemporary music and best production. From 2019-2023 Kristin was a PhD Research Fellow at the Oslo National Academy of Opera in Norway, where she developed an Expanded Vocal Improvising Instrument (EVII) for gestural vocal processing using wireless MIDI rings. Kristin has used the EVII in her latest opera, Crane Reflects on a Favor, and in numerous collaborative projects. Her PhD research is published on Research Catalogue.

Composer Improviser Vocalist Opera Singer Researcher Performer-Controlled Interactive Audio Processing

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