Liv Andrea Hauge Ensemble - Hva nå, Ekko?

Hva nå, Ekko? (“What now, Ekko?”) tells the story about Ekko that is unhappily in love with Narcissus. She follows him wherever he goes, and has neither her own thoughts or opinions. After a while it feels meaningless, and Ekko starts to wonder what happens if she stops to repeat what other people say. What shall she say then? And does she need to follow Narcissus that anyway just cares about himself? The music explores Ekko’s feelings and possibilities, and the unpredictability of the improvisational music is a parallel to an echo that speaks freely. What happens then?

Hva nå, Ekko? is a commissioned work by Liv Andrea Hauge, written for Festspillene i Helgeland 2022. The ambition behind the work is based on exploring improvisation in a bigger jazz ensemble. Composed by Liv Andrea Hauge, it’s performed by some of the foremost young jazz musicians on the Norwegian stage: Ragnhild Moan, Signe Emmeluth, Torstein Lavik Larsen, Marte Eberson, Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson and Andreas Winther. Drawing on Liv Andrea’s compositions and collective improvisations, the work appears as a collective project colored by tight interaction, and through the hour long work it´s notable how much the musicians enjoy playing with each other.

Liv Andrea Hauge is an Oslo based musician, originally from Mosjøen in Northern Norway. She has studied jazz piano at the Norwegian Academy of Music, and despite her young age and career she has put a mark on the Norwegian music stage, with bands such as Kongle Trio and Ladybird Orchestra. In 2022 she released the album Live From St.Hanshaugen with Liv Andrea Hauge Trio, mentioned as one of 2022’s best Norwegian jazz albums.