Maria Kannegaard
Pianist and composer Maria Kannegaard, born in Denmark in 1970, has lived in Norway since she was 10 years old. She began composing as a 5-year-old and studied classical piano for 10 years. Music basic subject at the University of Oslo. At this time she formed her first band playing self-composed music, Alibi (quintet). She began Jazz studies in Trondheim in 1992 as the first female instrumentalist there. She has stayed in Trondheim since her final exam.
Struggling with illness from the age of 23 she has been inactive as a musician intermittently throughout her career. She recorded her first trio album "Breaking the Surface" for the German company ACT in 2000, and since then has released a number of albums, and participated in numerous others. She has played at many festivals, both home and abroad.
In 2010 she received the DnB NOR award and the Kongsberg Jazz Festival's major musician award.
In 2011 she wrote the commissioned concert "Tomorrow And The Porch" for Kongsberg Jazz Festival (the concert was later released on live album in 2017).
She was appointed NTNU Ambassador 2012/2013 by NTNU during Trondheim Jazz Festival in 2012.
She wrote the commissioned work "Før eller siden er det nå" for Trondheim Jazz Festival and Moldejazz 2013 (the concert was released on live album in 2017).
She received NOPA's music award for 2019 for the work "Nådeslås".
She was nominated for the Spellemann Prize (Norwegian Grammy) in 2019 in the jazz class for the solo album "Nådeslås".
She won the Spellemann Prize in 2020 in the jazz class for the Trio album "Sand i en vik".
Albums
