LIST OF DELEGATES
İrem Müftüoğlu (She/Her)
Contact person for Delegate Programme
Borealis
irem@borealisfestival.no
+4741649181
Roza Aghili Taslimi (She/Her)
Advisor
Music Norway
roza@musicnorway.no
Agnes Hvizdalek (She/Her)
Managing Director
Borealis
agnes@borealisfestival.no
Peter Meanwell (He/Him)
Artistic Director
Borealis
peter@borealisfestival.no
Andrea Spreafico
Writer & Director
Spreafico Eckly
Presenting commission at Borealis 2026
Norway
andrea@spreaficoeckly.no
Andrea Spreafico is a performance director based in Bergen with a background as an historian, philosopher and visual artist. In 2011 he formed the theater production company Spreafico Eckly together with Caroline Eckly. Spreafico Eckly uses and mixes various forms of expression and the format of their work develops from within the work’s topic, it is not decided in advance but is a consequence of the creative process. So is the choice of their collaborators and of the performance space, that has to allow proximity to the topic.
Bjarni Frímann Bjarnason
Artistic Director
BIT20 Ensemble
Norway
bjarni@bit20.no
Born in Reykjavík, Iceland. Artistic Director of BIT20 Ensemble Bergen. Artistic Director and founder of State of the Art Festival Reykjavík.
Former Music Director of the Icelandic Opera and Conductor in Residence with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra.
Educated as violinist in Reykjavík and conductor in Berlin. Active as pianist and composer alongside alongside an international conducting career.
Heloisa Amaral (She/Her)
Director
Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival
Norway
heloisa@ultima.no
Heloisa Amaral is a Brazilian pianist, curator, and researcher known for her work at the intersection of performance, contemporary music, and artistic research. She lectures in curatorial practices at the Royal Conservatoire The Hague and holds a doctorate in artistic research from the Orpheus Institute and Leiden University. As a performer, Amaral plays solo and with Ensemble neoN and Duo Hellqvist/Amaral. Since 2023, she has been the director of Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival.
Herborg Rundberg (She/Her)
Musician & Composer
Presenting commission at Borealis 2025
Norway/Sápmi
herborg@rundberg.no
Herborg Rundberg is a Sea Sámi from Gáivuotna (Kåfjord) in Nord-Troms, now living in Tromsø. She is a composer and pianist with both classical and rhythmic training. Over several decades, she has created a very personal and unique musical style, both as a composer and pianist, by combining expressions from Sea Sámi culture with art music, improvised music and jazz. With the duo LEAGUS, who played at Borealis in 2024, she has released three critically acclaimed albums.
Jaleh Negari (She/Her)
Composer & Musician
Borealis Artist in Residence 2025–26
Performing at Borealis 2025
Denmark
negari@egetvaerelse.dk
Jaleh Negari, danish–iranian drummer and composer, works with instrumental and electronic music, audio/visual installation and interdisciplinary performance. She plays in the free jazz noise band Selvhenter, is a part of the art group Du–o, collaborates with dancer & choreographer Alicé Martucci and is one of the founders of the artist collective Eget Værelse.
Ketil Gutvik (He/Him)
Executive Director
nyMusikk
Norway
ketil@nymusikk.no
Ketil Gutvik is executive director of nyMusikk in Oslo. Also responsible for the production of nyMusikk’s concerts at the Ultima Festival, several sound installations, and tours and concerts across other Norwegian cities. Gutvik has a background as a professional guitarist within the field of jazz and improvised music. He is the founder of several concert series in Oslo, such as Drazztic Acoustic, Fritt Fall and Gutvik Ukentlig. Most recent and profiled activities include world touring with Paal Nilssen-Love’s ensemble Large Unit.
Krzysztof Pietraszewski (He/Him)
Artistic Director
Sacrum Profanum Festival
Poland
pietraszewski@sacrumprofanum.pl
Krzysztof Pietraszewski is a curator, cultural manager, music journalist, law graduate from the Jagiellonian University. Since 2016 is the artistic director of the Sacrum Profanum Contemporary Music Festival. From 2009 he’s been runnning the original radio program called Muzykoteka, previously aired on Radiofonia and Jazzkultura, now aired on Radio Kraków Kultura. In 2019 received the Creative Scholarship of the City of Krakow.
Lawrence Dunn (He/Him)
Commissioning Editor
Bachtrack
UK
lawrence.dunn@bachtrack.com
Lawrence is a composer, pianist and writer, and commissioning editor at classical music website Bachtrack. He has written music for, among others, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Proton Bern, Slagwerk Den Haag, Philip Thomas, Juliet Fraser, Plus-Minus, Exaudi, Apartment House and Explore Ensemble.
Lydia Rilling (She/Her)
Artistic Director
Donaueschinger Musiktage
Germany
lydia.rilling@swr.de
Lydia Rilling is a curator and musicologist specializing in contemporary music. Since 2022 she has been Artistic Director of Donaueschinger Musiktage. From 2016 to 2022, she was Chief Dramaturg at Philharmonie Luxembourg and directed the festival rainy days. In 2015 she co-curated the programme Thinking Together at MaerzMusik Berlin. She has taught and conducted research in musicology at the University of Potsdam and worked as a writer, journalist and moderator for institutions including Südwestrundfunk (SWR) and Berliner Festspiele.
Marina Sivak(She/Her)
Research Assistant
Free University of Berlin
Germany
marina.sivak357@gmail.com
Marina Sivak is a PhD candidate and research assistant at Freie Universität Berlin, working at the intersection of literary and cultural studies. Her research explores texts and other media, and how storytelling shapes cultural narratives. She is fascinated by the ways technology influences artistic expression and social discourse.
Marta Fudali (She/Her)
Festival Manager
Sacrum Profanum Festival
Poland
marta.fudali1@gmail.com
Manager of the Sacrum Profanum festival, graduate of Cultural Studies at the University of Silesia. She has been associated with the music industry since 2008. At the Metal Mind Productions concert and publishing agency, she was responsible for promoting concerts of bands such as Deep Purple, Slash and Judas Priest. In 2018, she joined the Music Department of the Krakow Festival Office and became Sacrum Profanum’s festival manager.
Maud Seuntjens (She/They)
Curator
Sonic Acts
Netherlands
maudseuntjens@gmail.com
Maud Seuntjens is an independent curator, critic, writer and sound artist based in Antwerp, who focuses on expanded sound art exhibitions, sound and music programmes, new commissions, and the passing of knowledge through archives, listening and education. Since 2021 she is a curator at Sonic Acts and the Sonic Acts Biennial in Amsterdam. Before she was artistic coordinator at the ‘Sound Forest’ in Belgium and an artistic collaborator at the Brussels based sound collective BNA-BBOT.
Nicole Schuchardt (She/Her)
International Producer
Spreafico Eckly
Germany
nicole@spreaficoeckly.no
Nicole Schuchardt is a freelance creative producer specialising in the performing arts, with a focus on international collaborations and long-term artistic partnerships. Based in Berlin, she works in production, distribution and PR. She has extensive experience in touring, distribution and marketing, having worked at brut Wien an institution for experimental performing arts, where she produced and promoted various projects, including site-specific works.
She currently collaborates with Norwegian choreographer Ingri Fiksdal and artist groups Boglárka Borcsök & Andreas Bolm and Spreafico Eckly.
Patrick Becker (He/Him)
Co-Editor & Director
Positionen – Texte zur aktuellen Musik & Wolke Verlag
Germany
bekerpat@gmail.com
Patrick Becker is co-editor of Positionen – Texte zur aktuellen Musik and director of Wolke Verlag, a leading publisher of books on contemporary and experimental music. With a background in musicology and music journalism, his work focuses on bridging intellectual discourse and artistic practice. He is deeply engaged in shaping the future of publishing for the avant-garde music scene.
Robert Barry (He/Him)
Writer
Freelance
UK
robertwilliambarry@gmail.com
Robert Barry is a freelance writer and musician, based in London. His writing has appeared in The Guardian, The Wire, Art Review, The Quietus and Frieze magazine. He has lectured at the Darmstadt Summer School, Zagreb Academy of Music, the University of East London and St Martins College of Art. His most recent book, part of Bloomsbury Publishing’s Object Lessons series, is called Compact Disc.
Rudolph Tang (He/Him)
Journalist
KLASSIKOM
China
klassikom@gmail.com
Award-winning, Shanghai based music critic Rudolph Tang (唐若甫) is a reporter for Musical America, member of the Society for Music Criticism of China since 2018. He has covered topics on classical music and opera since 2000 for KLASSIKOM that he founded. His contributions could be found elsewhere on das Orchester, The Podium, VAN, Operawire, Symphony, Auditorium, FT Chinese, China Daily, GQ, Noblesse, Tatler, and Slipped Disc. In November 2024, he was honoured with the Pioneering Critic Award by Music Lover magazine for his “pioneering criticism and uncompromising news report”.
Sam Salem (He/Him)
Co-director & Composer
Another Sky Festival
UK
sam.salem@gmail.com
Co-director and co-founder of Another Sky, a new festival & development platform supporting experimental music from the SWANA (Southwest Asia/North Africa) region and diaspora. Composer & PRiSM Lecturer of Composition at the Royal Northern College of Music. Co-founder of Distractfold Ensemble. Lives in London.
Sarah Ludwig-Simkin (She/Her)
Managing Director
Oslo Sinfonietta & Cikada
Norway
sarah@cikos.no
Sarah is the executive director for Oslo Sinfonietta and Cikada – the two longest-standing Norwegian ensembles for contemporary music. With a background in musicology and cultural studies, she has extensive experience in project management and ensemble work previously having worked for Ensemble Modern, International Ensemble Modern Academy, Telemark Chamber Orchestra, ensemble POING, Kasseler Musiktage and Jazzinstitut Darmstadt.
Stéphane Roth (He/Him)
Executive & Artistic Director
Festival Musica
France
roth@festivalmusica.fr
Stéphane Roth is the Director of Festival Musica in Strasbourg since 2019. Previously, he was editorial director of the Cité de la musique/Philharmonie de Paris and production assistant for the Harmonia Mundi record label. He is also active as a translator and has published numerous works on visual and sound culture.
Stig Rasmussen
General Manager
BIT20 Ensemble
Norway
stig@bit20.no
Head of Bergen’s resident sinfonietta BIT20 Ensemble. Previously with Bergen International Festival and Stavanger 2008 European Capital of Culture, as well as ten years in the human rights field.
Susanna Niedermayr (She/Her)
Editor & Curator
ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst, ORF Ö1 Zeit-Ton, ORF Ö1 Supernova
Austria
susanna.niedermayr@orf.at
Susanna Niedermayr studied fine arts and political sciences and was previously a member of the artist group WochenKlausur. She has been working as an editor, presenter, web designer and curator for the ORF (Ö1, FM4) since 1996. Since 2007 she is co-curator of ORF musikprotokoll im steirischen herbst. Since 2008 she is co-producer of ORF Ö1 Zeit-Ton (for which she has been working as an editor since 2000). Since 2024 she is also co-producer of ORF Ö1 Supernova. She is also co-author of European Meridians – New Music Territories.
Dr. Thomas Schäfer (He/Him)
Director
International Music Institute / Darmstadt Summer Course
Germany
schaefer@internationales-musikinstitut.de
Dr. Thomas Schäfer is Director of the International Music Institute Darmstadt (IMD) and Artistic Director of the Darmstadt Summer Course. At the University of Hamburg (UHH) he studied Historical and Systematic Musicology, Modern German Literature and Philosophy. He is co-founder of the Working Group for Music in Exile at the Musicological Institute of the UHH. In 1997 he received his doctorate from the Humboldt University in Berlin with a thesis about the compositional influence of Gustav Mahler in contemporary music. From 2000 to 2008 Thomas Schäfer was dramaturge for contemporary music at the Wiener Konzerthaus and curator of the Wien Modern festival.
Tze Yeung Ho (He/Him)
Composer
Freelance
Presenting commission at Borealis 2025
Norway/Finland
tzeyeungho@gmail.com
Tze Yeung Ho is a Norwegian/Finnish composer and artistic researcher currently based in Helsinki. His music is created at the crossroads of understanding, reflecting his multilingual upbringing. His works explore the territories of speech, translation in language, dramaturgy and poetics. Close collaboration with living writers, storytellers and word-based artists is integral to his practice. His creations usually result in some form of music theatre. Tze Yeung was among the featured artists of Venice Biennale in 2024, where he collaborated on an interdisciplinary music theatre piece presented at the Nordic Pavilion.
Xenia Benivolski (She/Her)
Writer and curator
Independent
Canada
xeniaster@gmail.com
Xenia Benivolski curates, writes and lectures about sound, music and visual art. Her writing most often appears in art publications such as e-flux journal, Frieze and the Wire (UK). She edits You Can’t Trust Music at e-flux.com, a research project connecting sound-based artists, musicians and writers to explore together the way that landscape, acoustics and musical thought contribute to the formation of social and political structures. Xenia is a PhD student and FWO fellow in Brussels where she studies the evolution of musical instruments.
Wiliam Lane
CEO
Hong Kong New Music Ensemble
Hong Kong
william@hknme.org
William Lane is an Australian musician, curator, and arts administrator with a strong presence in Asia. He founded the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble in 2008 – now one of Asia’s most active new music groups – which he now serves as both CEO and Violist. William has curated numerous major festivals and arts initiatives across Asia, and has also contributed as a musician, teacher, board director, and arts advisor.
