Artist Biography by James Manheim

Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen has often been heard in concert with her brother, cellist Håkon Samuelsen. As she completed her education in the early 2010s, she began to emerge into a solo career.

Mari Samuelsen Vivaldi Autumn

Born in 1985, Samuelsen began playing the violin at age three and took lessons at a music school near her home in Hamar, Norway. Soon she attracted the attention of violinist Arve Tellefsen in Oslo and studied with him for ten years. The Mari-Håkon partnership flowered during their teens, when they presented novel concerts such as one in 2003 where they both played Stradivarius instruments. Samuelsen also took lessons at Oslo's Barratt Due Institute of Music and then moved to Zurich to study with Zakhar Bron at the Zurich University of the Arts. She received two master's degrees there in 2012 and has also taken master classes with Ana Chumachenco, Ivry Gitlis, Donald Weilerstein, and Pamela Frank.

Mari Samuelsen: Vivaldi - 'Summer' from Four Seasons. 10:51; Mari Samuelsen – Max Richter: November (Live from the Forbidden City, Beijing / 2018) 6:44; Mari Samuelsen: Vivaldi 'Four seasons' - Presto from summer. 2:29; Glass: Violin Concerto, 2nd mvt. Listen to music from Mari Samuelsen: Vivaldi like Summer and Summer' from Four Seasons. Find the latest tracks, albums, and images from Mari Samuelsen: Vivaldi. #repost: Here's Vivaldi's Summer, performed by Norwegian violinist Mari Samuelsen @samuelsenofficial where she plays a 1773 G.B Guadagnini in this video, which she's had on generous loan since 2008/09, from the Anders Sveaas Charitable Foundation, Oslo. The foundation acquired this Guadagnini from Florian Leonhard Fine Violins @florianleonhard.

Samuelsen has given solo recitals at New York's Carnegie Hall; Wolf Trap outside Washington, D.C.; the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris; and Zurich's Tonhalle. Her concerto appearances have featured collaborations with David Zinman, Seiji Ozawa, Vasily Petrenko, and Howard Griffiths, among others. Samuelsen has played in chamber ensembles with Leif Ove Andsnes, Igor Levit, and many other top players. Her recording debut came with Håkon Samuelsen in 2015 on the album Pas de Deux, featuring an original composition by the late American film composer James Horner; the work was one of his last before his death in a plane crash. In 2017 she once again joined Håkon for the recital Nordic Noir, where they were backed by the innovative Trondheimsolisten chamber orchestra.

Mari Samuelsen Vivaldi Storm

Mari Samuelsen Vivaldi Summer

Samuelsen plays a fine G.B. Guadagnini (Turin 1773) generously on loan from Anders Sveaas charitable foundation, Oslo, and a Dominique Peccatte bow on loan from Sparebanken Hedmark.

Mari Samuelsen Vivaldi Spring

21 December 2017, 14:27

Ever had one of those moments of realisation, when you work out that you’ve been pulling a strange face for many, many seconds? This guy has.

This violist, ably supporting the superb Mari Samuelsen in a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, seems to make a seriously pained facial expression with no discernible reason.
Samuelson is playing beautifully (as per), so what’s happening to this guy’s face? Our suggestion: the sudden realisation that you’re a viola player.

Mari Silje Samuelsen Vivaldi

And the whole thing is here (strange face comes in around the four-minute mark):