Grete Pedersen Conductor Generalmanagement

Artistic Director Carmel Bach Festival
Chief Conductor Yale Schola Cantorum

The Norwegian conductor Grete Pedersen is one of the most renowned conductors in the international choral scene. From 1990 to 2025 Grete Pedersen has been Music Director of the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir whose recordings were awarded the ‘Choc de la Musique’, ‘Prix d'Or’ from Diapason and a 'Record of the year’ by Gramophone. In September 2022 she has been appointed as Artistic Director of the Carmel Bach Festival, USA, for five years. Since 2026, Pedersen has been Principal Conductor of the Yale Schola Cantorum and Professor of Choral Conducting at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music.

Grete Pedersen is a sought-after guest conductor and has worked with all prestigious European choirs. She has performed oratorios with leading Norwegian orchestras as well as with Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, Yale Camerata, and Gulbenkian Orchestra & Choir.

Educated as a church musician at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Grete Pedersen has been part of the historically informed performance movement since the early 1980s and has worked with the Freiburger Barockorchester, Oslo Bach Ensemble, Norwegian Barokkanerne, Barokksolistene and the Drottningholm Barokkensemble, among others.

Lately, she led The Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard 415 at New York, Alice Tully Hall and on tour in Italy with five concerts.
Upcoming highlights include engagements with Netherlands Bach Society Orchestra & Choir, RIAS Kammerchor Berlin, events with Lise Davidsen with Stavanger Symphony Orchestra and Norwegian Radio Orchestra in Oslo and a concert with Finnish Baroque Orchestra in Helsinki to mark the 300th anniversary of the premiere of Bach’s St Matthew Passion.

Grete Pedersen's name stands for productions and stagings with a broad and innovative variety of styles. She has set new standards with her interpretation of early and contemporary music. In the contemporary scene, Grete Pedersen is known as a fearless advocate of new music and she has commissioned and performed numerous pieces by leading composers.

BIS Records has released numerous award-winning recordings with the Norwegian Soloists Choir and works by Per Norgard, Kaija Saariaho, Fartein Valen, Alfred Janson, Knut Nystedt, Nils Henrik Asheim, Lars Petter Hagen, Edvard Grieg, Iannis Xenakis, Helmut Lachenmann, Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen, Anton Webern, Brahms, Schubert, J.S. Bach and Norwegian Folk Music. Her albums of Luciano Berio: Coro and J.S. Bach: Motets has been awarded the Diapason d’Or in the years 2020 and 2018. Grete Pedersen and The Norwegian Soloists' Choir lately received the renowned Spellermann Prize for their album Lament. In 2023 Bent Sorensen: Matthew Passion with Ensemble Allegria and The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir was released. The Liszt album Via Crucis with The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir and Leif Ove Andsnes has been awarded a Diapason d’Or in 2025.

In 1984, Grete Pedersen founded the Oslo Chamber Choir and worked with them for 20 years particularly with oratorio repertoire and contemporary music. She completed her postgraduate studies in conducting at the Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo and studied choral conducting with Eric Ericson and orchestral conducting with Kenneth Kiesler.
In 2019, Grete Pedersen was appointed Knight 1st Class of the Royal Norwegian St. Olavs Order for her merit and outstanding achievements in the arts and was awarded the distinguished Lindeman Prize to honour her significant contribution to the musical life of Norway.

Season 2026/27

Images for download:

News/Info

Grete Pedersen at Carmel Bach Festival California 11. - 25.07.2026

Grete Pedersen conducts several concerts at Carmel Bach Festival performing Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, Haydn: The Seasons as well as music by Angelica Negrón, Aaron Copland, Nils Henrik Asheim, J.S. Bach, Jean-Féry Rebel, Henry Purcell, Kaija Saariaho and Sven-David Sandström with the Festival Orchestra, Festival Chorale and Festival Chorus.

Grete Pedersen with Yale Choir & Juilliard414 in Italy

Grete Pedersen conducts Haydn: The Creation with Yale Schola Cantorum and Juilliard414 in Trieste on 25.05.2026, Brescia 26.05., Venice 27.05, Perugia 29.05. and Roma 31.05.

Grete Pedersen conducts Yale Schola Cantorum & Juilliard415 in New York

Grete Pedersen conducts Haydn: Creation together with Yale Schola Cantorum, Juilliard415 & soloists in New York, Alice Tully Hall. on 1 May 2026.

Grete Pedersen conducts Yale Scola Cantorum

Grete Pedersen conducts her inaugural concert as Principal Conductor of Yale Schola Cantorum in New Haven, USA, on 5 March 2026 with a programme by J.S. Bach: Magnificat and works by Schubert, Poulenc, Mahler, Lachenmann among others.

Grete Pedersen: 2025 edition Carmel Bach Festival

At 2025 Carmel Bach Festival Grete Pedersen conducts the Festival Orchestra, Chorus & soloists in J.S.Bach: Mass B minor, Mozart: Jupiter Symphony, Schumann: Cello Concerto, Jessie Montgomery: Starburst, Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite and Haydn: Harmoniemesse with Festival Orchestra, Chorus and soloists on 12, 13, 18, 19, 20 and 25 July 2025.

Grete Pedersen: Haydn: Harmoniemesse + Orjan Matre: Memento (world premiere)

Grete Pedersen conducts the Arctic Philharmonic and The Norwegian Soloists' Choir in two concerts in Tromso on 10 and 11 April 2025. The programme features Haydn: Harmoniemesse and Orjan Matre: Memento (world premiere).

Grete Pedersen conducts premiere by Eivind Buene

Grete Pedersen conducts the premiere of Eivind Buene: Horizons with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir on 15 & 16 February 2025 in Hamar und Oslo. Further repertoire: Brahms: Fest- und Gedenksprüche, Brahms: Warum ist das Licht gegeben dem Mühseligen and Cecilie Ore: Toil & Trouble.

Grete Pedersen in Helsingborg

Grete Pedersen conducts J.S. Bach: Christmas Oratorio 1-3 with Helsingborg Symphony, choir and soloists of The Norwegian Soloists' Choir in Helsingborg.

Grete Pedersen: Debut with Philharmonia Baroque San Francisco

Grete Pedersen conducts the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, Palo Alto and Berkeley on 17, 18 and 19 October 2024. The programme features music by Hildegard von Bingen, Caroline Shaw, Haydn, Mozart and Mendelssohn.

Grete Pedersen at Carmel Bach Festival

Grete Pedersen performs at Carmel Bach Festival, California three productions with the Festival Orchestra und Festival Chorale: J.S. Bach: St John's Passion on 13 and 20 July, Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 and A cappella music by Bruckner and Cage on 14 and 20 July, Grieg: Piano Concerto and Beethoven: Symphony No.5 on 19 July and "Best of the Fest" on 27 July 2024.

Grete Pedersen: Gramophone Critics Choice: favourite album 2023

Grete Pedersen's album of Bent Sorensen: St Matthew Passion with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria for BIS has been voted as one of the favourite classical recordings of 2023 by Gramophone Critics Choice.

Grete Pedersen conducts Rundfunkchor Berlin

Grete Pedersen conducts the Rundfunkchor Berlin and instrumentalists in Berlin on 22 December 2023 in a christmas programme with Giovanni Gabrieli, Thomas Tallis, Ottorino Respighi, Anton Bruckner, Orjan Matre, Gustaf Nordqvist and Arnold Schönberg.

Grete Pedersen conducts The Norwegian Soloists Choir on tour

Grete Pedersen conducts The Norwegian Soloists' Choir in three concerts in Hamar, Tonsberg and Oslo on 3, 4 and 5 November 2023 featuring a programme of Richard Strauss, Mendelssohn, Kaija Saariaho, Therese Birkelund Ulvo, Reger and Schönberg.

Grete Pedersen: Editor's Choice of the month for Sorensen album

Grete Pedersen's album of Bent Sorensen: St. Matthew Passion with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria for BIS has been selected as "Editor's Choice of the month" by Gramophone.

Grete Pedersen & The Norwegian Soloists' Choir in Sion und Meran

Grete Pedersen directs The Norwegian Soloists' Choir at Sion festival on 1 September 2023 and at Merano Festival in Lana on 3 September 2023. The programme encompasses music by Johann Christoph Bach, Richard Strauss, Lars Johan Werle, Edvard Grieg and Norwegian folk songs "Canticles of the sun".

Grete Pedersen at Carmel Bach Festival California

Grete Pedersen conducts three programmes at Carmel Bach Festival with Festival Chorale, Chorus and Orchestra: 15./22.07.2023 Haydn: The Creation, 18./25.07. Bach, Mahler, Lachenmann, Schubert, Zelenka and 21./28.07. Mozart: Overture The marriage of Figaro, Karin Rehnqvist: Breaking the Ice of Arktis Arktis, Mahler: Blumine and Symphony No. 4.

Grete Pedersen conducts The Norwegian Soloists' Choir in Helsinki, Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen

Grete Pedersen conducts The Norwegian Soloists' Choir in Helsinki on 1 June 2023, Oslo on 4 June, Stockholm on

8 June and Copenhagen on 10 June featuring music by Werle, Strauss, Taube, Janson, Melläs, Nyström, Martland and Eriksson as well as the project THE NORDIC CHOIR EXPEDITION with Ars Nova Copenhagen, Eric Ericson Chamber Choir and Helsinki Chamber Choir featuring the first performance of Galina Grigorjeva: Between the Earth and Skies in Helsinki on 2 June, Oslo on 4 June, Stockholm on 7 June and Copenhagen on 9 June.

Grete Pedersen conducts NDR Vokalensemble Hamburg

Grete Pedersen conducts the NDR Vokalensemble Hamburg in two concerts: Hannover Christuskirche 01.04.2023, Hamburg Elbphilharmonie 02.04.2023 with music by Edvard Grieg, Iannis Xenakis, Franz Liszt (with Leif Ove Andsnes) and Franz Schubert.

Grete Pedersen at rostrum of Slovenian Philharmonic

Grete Pedersen returns to the rostrum of Slovenian Philharmonic & Choir in Ljubljana on 27 January 2023 with a programme of music by J.S. Bach.

Kaspars Putnins with Chorwerk Ruhr

Kaspars Putnins conducts Chorwerk Ruhr in two concerts on 17./18.12.2022 in Essen and Bochum with a programme of Charpentier, Telemann, Orjan Matre, Gustav Nordquist and Henning Sommero.

Grete Pedersen conducts world premiere of Karin Rehnqvist

Grete Pedersen conducts the Fauré: Requiem and three pieces by Karin Rehnqvist including the first performance of Day is here! with the Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria in three concerts in Hamar, Fredrikstad and Oslo on 4, 5 and 6 November 2022.

Grete Pedersen is appointed as Artistic Director Carmel Bach Festival USA

Grete Pedersen has been apppointed as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the renowned Carmel Bach Festival, California for five years. Following two stunning concert projects with the Orchestra and Chorus of the festival in July, she will curate and conduct the annually two-week festival with a wide variety of projects.https://bachfestival.org/2022/08/24/carmel-bach-festival-welcomes-grete-pedersen-artistic-director-and-principal-conductor/

Grete Pedersen at Davos Festival

Grete Pedersen conducts the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir Academy at Davos Festival in two concerts on 13 and 14 August 2022. The programmes feature music by Poulenc, Janson, Xenakis, Messiaen, J.S. Bach, Holten and Norwegian Folksongs.

Grete Pedersen at Carmel Bach Festival in California

Grete Pedersen conducts two concerts with Carmel Bach Festival Orchestra and vocal soloists in Carmel-by-the-Sea on 21 July with music by Ives, Berio/Schubert, Beethoven and on 23 July an A capella programme with music by J.S. Bach, Nystedt and Norwegian Folk music.

Grete Pedersen conducts Dunedin Consort

Grete Pedersen conducts the Dunedin Consort in four concerts: 14.10. Aberdeen, 15.20. Greyfriar, 16.10. Glasgow, 17.10. St Andrews with a programme of Sven-David Sandström/Purcell, Robert Johnson, Edvard Grieg, Drew Hammond, Bo Holten, James MacMillan, J.S. Bach, Norwegian and Scottish traditionals.

Grete Pedersen & The Norwegian Solists' Choir at chor.com Hannover

Grete Pedersen and the Norwegian Soloists' Choir guest at chor.com Hannover on 25 September in two concerts performing music by Orjan Matre, Eivin Buene, Knut Nystedt and Norwegian folksongs.

Spellermann Prize for Grete Pedersen & The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

Grete Pedersen and The Norwegian Soloists' Choir lately received the renowned Spellermann Prize for their album Lament (compositions by Lars Petter Hagen, Nils Henrik Asheim and Arne Nordheim) on BIS Records.

Grete Pedersen conducts world premiere of Bent Sorensen: Matthew Passion

Grete Pedersen conducted the world premiere of Bent Sorensen's Matthew Passion with the Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria at Oslo Church Music Festival on 12 March. NRK Klassiek broadcasts the recording on 1 April, 19:30-21:00. <link https: radio.nrk.no serie paa-konsert-radio sesong mkkl16001321>radio.nrk.no/serie/paa-konsert-radio/sesong/202104/MKKL16001321

Grete Pedersen: Mozart video

View a video of Grete Pedersen, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Ensemble Allegria with Mozart: Requiem: Kyrie & Dies irae: <link https: www.youtube.com _blank>www.youtube.com/watch

Grete Pedersen at rostrum of Stavanger Symphony

Grete Pedersen conducts the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra on 5 and 6 November with music by Charles Ives, Henry Purcell, Haydn, Nils Henrik Asheim as well as

Leonard Bernstein's Chichester Psalms together with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir.

Grete Pedersen: Diapason d'or for Berio album

Grete Pedersen's new album by Luciano Berio: Coro with the Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Norwegian Radio Orchestra with BIS Records has received the Diapason d'or of the year 2020 in the category choral music.

Grete Pedersen & The Norwegian Soloists' Choir: video Bergen International Festival

See Grete Pedersen and the Norwegian Soloists' Choir in a livestream video for Bergen International Festival 2020

from Trefoldighetskirken Oslo with the programme Hymn to freedom (J.S. Bach, Francis Poulenc and Edvard Grieg): <link https: www.facebook.com solistkoret videos>www.facebook.com/Solistkoret/videos/279488200087124/ (available until 30 November 2020)

Grete Pedersen conducts Brahms: A German Requiem

Grete Pedersen conducts on 11 April, 19:00 (CET) Brahms: A German Requiem with The Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Ensemble Allegria, The Norwegian Wind Ensemble,

Camilla Tilling and Markus Eiche online (concert November 2019): <link https: www.youtube.com channel uc96oprjjbxweqnb2k2mup6a _blank>www.youtube.com/channel/UC96opRjjbxWEQNb2k2mUP6A

New Album of Grete Pedersen: Luciano Berio

BIS Records has released a further album with Grete Pedersen, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and Norwegian Radio Orchestra: Luciano Berio Coro and Cries of London. <link bis.se/performers/norwegian-soloists-choir-the/luciano-berio-coro _blank>bis.se/performers/norwegian-soloists-choir-the/luciano-berio-coro </link>

Listen to the recording: <link naxos.lnk.to/BerioEL _blank>naxos.lnk.to/BerioEL</link>

Grete Pedersen directs DR Vocal Ensemble

Grete Pedersen directs the Danish Radio Vocal Ensemble in three concerts in Copenhagen, Billund and Randers on 24, 25 and 26 January with music by Daniel Lesur, Claudio Monteverdi, Alfred Jansen, Edvard Grieg and Torbjorn Dyrud.

YouTube video

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Press

Haydn: Creation with Juilliard415 & Yale Schola Cantorum in Brescia

Grete Pedersen conducted the young musicians of Juilliard415 and Yala Schola Cantorum & soloists with admirable mastery. She did not only aim for impressive and unique effects, such as the initial musical depiction of chaos or the emergence of light through the word of God, but also presented the full range of nuances that permeate Haydn's monumental score.[...] A wonderful evening.
Bresciaoggi, Luigi Fertonani, 28 May 2026
J.S.Bach and Beyond in Carmel California

Grete Pedersen led an account of Bach’s Mass in B minor that was the peak experience of my visit. […] Rather than a freeze-frame of overwrought pathos, the opening measures flowed in the same tempo directly into the vast “Kyrie” fugue. Pedersen imbued the “Gloria” and “Credo” with drama and color, illuminating the emotional resonance of each rhetorical shift.

Haydn’s Harmoniemesse was another highlight, sharing the bill on a symphonic concert with Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Suite that showed Pedersen’s agility across a wide stylistic range.

Musical America, Thomas May, 29.07.2025
Rousing end of Carmel Bach Festival

Pedersen led the Festival Orchestra in a performance that brought the audience to its feet with thunderous applause.
Monterey Herald California, Barbara Shuler, 24.07.2024

Grete Pedersen has brought an active imagination to the art of programming and a keen musicianship that has upgraded the level of performances.
Musical America, Richard S. Ginell, 18.07.2024
Pedersen’s first season at Carmel Bach Festival California

Haydn's Creation displayed Pedersen's skill and inventiveness in leading large-scale choral works. She is a grand master of interpolation, the art of incorporating something of a different nature into an established work.[...] Pedersen seems poised to take patrons on unique journeys in the coming years, putting Bach at the center while opening our ears through her fresh and enlightening conceptions: Diamonds on Bach!

Monterey Herald, CA, Barbara Shuler, 26.07.2023
Grete Pedersen with Dunedin Consort

The most magical thing on the programme, however, came in a series of Scottish and Norwegian folk songs at the end, sung by the choir dispersed around the church with Pedersen conducting in the middle. [...] The music seemed gently to emerge from every corner of Greyfriars Kirk at once, Pedersen conducting as though she was weaving an improvisation out of thin air, with subtle vocalisations creating a spellbinding sound, especially in James MacMillan’s setting of Rabbie Burns’s The Gallant Weaver.

seenandheard-international.com, Simon Thompson, 17.10.2021
Grete Pedersen & The Norwegian Soloists' Choir at chor.com Hannover

The performance of the Norwegian Soloists ‘Choir was a vocal highlight. […] The concert of Grete Pedersen and her singers was able to provide some answers to the question of what can be learned from choral music in the Scandinavian countries. The mixture of traditional Norwegian music and new music offered points of contact and inspiration for the audience at the same time. This is how a repertoire can be renewed [...] This creates a spirit of optimism in the scene.

Hannoversche Allgemeine, Stefan Arndt, 27.09.2021
Album Luciano Berio: Coro with Norwegian Soloists' Choir

Two features stand out in Coro: first, its tendency to put a revealing slant on Berio’s particular form of expressionism by keeping it all-of a-piece – a single canvas; second, its prioritising of the composer’s interest in merging instruments and voices to the point where on occasion neither is identifiable as one or the other.[…] Grete Pedersen achieves both through judicious matching of individual voices to each other and to instruments.[…] Every time this excellent choir issues a new recording you wonder what will come next.

Gramophone, Andrew Mellor, 6/2020

Discography

Franz Liszt: Via Crucis

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Leif Ove Andsnes, piano
Sony Classical (2025)

Bent Sorensen: St Matthew Passion

Bent Sorensen: St Matthew Passion
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Ensemble Allegria
BIS Records (2023)

Lament

Lars Petter Hagen, Nils Henrik Asheim and Arne Nordheim

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Ensemble Allegria
BIS Records (2020)

Luciano Berio: Coro

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Norwegian Radio Orchestra

BIS Records (2020)

Alfred Janson: the wind blows The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

BIS Records (2018)

J.S. Bach The Motets The Norwegian Soloists' Choir
Ensemble Allegria

BIS Records (2017)

As dreams

Alfred Janson
Helmut Lachenmann
Per Nörgård (Nørgård)
Kaija Saariaho

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir
Oslo Sinfonietta

BIS Records (2016)

Nystedt / J.S. Bach - Meins Lebens Licht

Johann Sebastian Bach
Knut Nystedt

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir
Ensemble Allegria

BIS Records (2015)

Songs of Christmas

Ola O. Fagerheim
Hildegard of Bingen
Gustaf Nordquist
Per Nörgård (Nørgård)
Michael Praeto

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir

BIS Records (2013)

Refractions: Choral works by Berg, Webern, Valen & Messiaen Alban Berg, Olivier Messiaen,
Fartein Valen, Anton Webern

Berit Norbakken Solset
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

BIS Records (2013)

White Night: Impressions of Norwegian Folk Music Eivind Buene
Eivind Groven
Gjermund Larsen
Traditional

Gjermund Larsen
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

BIS Records (2011)

Im Herbst: Choral works by Brahms and Schubert Johannes Brahms
Franz Schubert
Ingrid Andsnes, Madelene Berg,
Öystein Birkeland, Catherine Bullock,
Kåre Nordstoga, The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir,
Ole Eirik
BIS Records (2011)

Edvard Grieg: Choir music

Edvard Grieg

The Norwegian Soloists’ Choir

BIS Records (2007)

Telling what is told

Alfred Janson
Nils Lindberg
Sven-Eric Johanson
Frank Martin
Sören Barfoed
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi
Hakon Berge

The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

Simax (2006)

Bergtatt

Folk music

Oslo Kammerkor

Musikk (1999)