Kunstfest Rotvoll 29 August 2026:

Rotvoll Kunstfest Ensemble – KOLLEKTIV KASKADE

What happens when this year's festival musicians at Kunstfest Rotvoll, representing a wide range of musical genres, come together in a single work? Can we bring our individuality with us, meet one another, and create cascading waves of shared energy?

The new Rotvoll Kunstfest Ensemble makes its debut with a new work by Martin Smidt, featuring texts by Eirik Audunson Skaar. Kollektiv Kaskade explores collectivity as a musical principle – a counterpoint to polarization, algorithms, and predictability.

The performance begins as this year's group exhibition in the Rotvoll forest comes to a close. From there, musicians gradually emerge from the forest and the artist collective, converging into one large ensemble at Bakgårdsscenen, where Kollektiv Kaskade unfolds.

Photo: Thor Egil Leirtrø (from Kunstfest Rotvoll 2024)

Klassekampen’s theatre critic Amund Grimstad writes about the performance STILLE INN at Teater Innlandet:

“In addition to Kjersti Haugen’s ability to convey warmth and emotion in a way most of us can relate to, it is Martin Smidt’s newly composed score that truly elevates this production. His melodic music fits the performance like a glove, following the action closely and intensely, like a deeply atmospheric shadow. Together with the acting and the script, this made Stille inn an extraordinarily beautiful production about an ordinary yet profoundly difficult theme.”

From September 2024 to January 2025 Martin Smidt is working on music for a new theater production at Innlandet Teater, Hamar (NO): STILLE INN. The award-winning director Kjersti Haugen has written the script and is the director of the piece, which has premiere on 23 January 2025.

“Musikerne Martin Smidt og Sissel Vera Pettersen tonesetter det hele på mesterlig vis. I et møte mellom teknologi og natur, i det dyriske og pulserende, i det forsiktige og voldsomme.” Adresseavisen

“ Eg trur aldri eg har hatt det artigare på teater. Ikkje i tydinga humor og lått, men i oppleving og leik. (…) Musikken til Martin Smidt og Sissel Vera Pettersen smaug seg like tett om det som skjedde på scena og var med på å gjere framsyninga nærast komplett.” Amund Grimstad, Klassekampen

JEG SYNS JEG SER ALT SOM FINNS is an innovative and interactive theater performance by the acclaimed Norwegian company Cirka Teater. It had its premiere at Trøndelag Teater, Studioscenen, in August 2024.

Script and concept: Anne Marit Sæther / Kjersti Haugen

Director: Kjersti Haugen

Actors: Anne Marit Sæther and Loan TP Hoang

Composers and musicians on stage: Sissel Vera Pettersen and Martin Smidt

Light design: Eirik Brenne Torsethaugen

Stage design: Gilles Berger

Photo: Dino Makridis

Opening piece for the festival Kunstfest Rotvoll, Rotvoll Kunstnerkollektiv (Trondheim) 24 August 2024. Music by Martin Smidt, featuring drummers Hans Hulbækmo, Espen Aalberg, Åsmund Mattias Smidt, Sondre Mikalsen and Martin Smidt

“Trondheims fremste frie teatergruppe finner nok en gang veien ut av det vanlige, i en forestilling som feirer 40 år med storslagen kreativitet.” Adresseavisen

Music by Martin Smidt, Eirik Hegdal, Trygve Brøske and Ståle Storløkken was combined in Cirka Teater’s large format outdoor anniversary performance at Nyhavna, Trondheim, June 2024. The line-up featured about 50 people: Trondheim Voices, Luftforsvarets Musikkorps, well-known actors from different Norwegian theatres, children theatre group, and a band consisting of Eirik Hegdal, Ståle Storløkken, Emil Bø, Ragnhild Faanes, Erlend Smalås and Martin Smidt

Martin Smidt’s choir work LYDEN AV RINGDUER was combined with Ragnar Rasmussen’s choir work ÅTTE ÅRSTIDER in the new 2024 music and dance theatre production RINGDUEN OG ÅRSTIDENE - with a large line-up: The Trondheim choirs A Cappellissimo and Viggja Voices, 40 dancers and the musicians Viktor Wilhelmsen, Daniel Herskedal and Martin Smidt.

Dice 5 and great reviews after 4 weeks with Cirka Teater performances at Rosendal Teater January - February 2024. PULS, KLASSEROMMET and LØVE all have music by Martin Smidt (Photo: Eirik Brenne Torsethaugen)

Saturday 14 October 2023 TRILOBITT plays at Vega Scene: First at the 40 Years Anniversary Show for Cirka Teater, and then with an open concert

3 different Cirka Teater productions with music by Martin Smidt played at Vega Scene in Oslo during the autumn 2023: LØVE, PULS and KLASSEROMMET. Klasserommet features live musicians Erlend Smalås and Martin Smidt

Impro performance at Kunstfest Rotvoll 2023 with the dance artists Anna Thu Schmidt, Karoline Ellingsen Wheeler and Andrea Winsnes, and the musicians Eirik Hegdal and Are Lothe Kolbeinsen. Interaction with the installation “Colours in the wind” by Harald Bredholt. Photo: Harald Bredholt

Martin Smidt composed 45 minutes music for the theatre performance TANTE GRUSOM at Hålogaland Teater. Opening night: 12 January 2023

Director: Morten Røsrud. Musicians: Eirik Hegdal, Marianne Baudouin Lie, Morten Schrøder, Elisabeth Fossan. Mix: Åsmund Mattias Smidt

The complete soundtrack is released on all streaming platforms (Apple Music, Tidal, Spotify etc.)

The TRILOBITT album “Superb Surprise” was released digitally the first day of the year 2023. Then, finally, on the last day of 2023 it was also published physically as LP! The vinyl release was supported by Publication grant from the Norwegian Arts Council/Kulturdirektoratet

Cirka Teater won the Gulljerven award for the GARAGE and LØVE, both productions with music by Martin Smidt. Gulljerven is awarded to theatre companies/productions that have special importance for the young theatre audience of Norway.

Review of PULS (Cirka Teater in collaboration with Teatret Vårt), with music by Martin Smidt: 
MAGIC: "There are constantly surprising twists and almost magical situations, and together with the more than mood-creating music of Martin Smidt, we are led from one fascinating experience to the next" 
Amund Grimstad, Klassekampen

Cirka Teater’s acclaimed performance GARAGE (music by Martin Smidt) continues its worldwide tour, with the Bábkarská Bystrica September 2022 in Slovakia!

Photo credit: Cirka Teater & Clément Caron

These days my music for PULS is taking shape. PULS is Cirka Teater´s big autumn 2022 production, produced in collaboration with Teatret Vårt (Molde) and Ålesund Teater.

Espen Dekko and Gilles Berger (idea/concept/director)

Gilles Berger (stage design)

Karoline Ellingsen Bergh (actor/dancer)

Martin Smidt (music and sound design)

Eirik Brenne Torsethaugen (light design)

Berit Haltvik With (costumes)

Premiere at Teatret Vårt (Molde) 17. September 2022

“Lyden av ringduer” is a choral work by Martin Smidt in 8 movements based on a collection of poems by Torill Smidt. The work was commissioned by the chamber choir A Cappellissimo with funding from Det Norske Komponistfond, and the premiere is one of the opening concerts for the National Festival of Choirs in Norway May 26th 2022

Cirka Teater’s performance “Klasserommet” (featuring live musicians/arrangers Erlend Smalås & Martin Smidt) received dice 6 and massive enthusiastic reviews in several newspapers, blogs and podcasts. Klassekampen’s Amund Grimstad says: «Klasserommet er ei av dei mest gripande framsyningane Cirka Teater har laga, og det seier ikkje lite.» And listen to the review from the young journalists Kevin and Håkon in the podcast UKRITISK: “Wow - what a performance! Just WOW!” https://soundcloud.app.goo.gl/3TPPZWyScDdRNbvG9

4. March 2022 is the opening night for Cirka Teater’s new production, “Klasserommet”.

Script and actor: Anne Marit Sæther

Director: Kjersti Haugen

Musicians: Erlend Smalås and Martin Smidt

Music: Music from the 1960s, arr.: Smalås & Smidt

Performances every day 4.-13. March 2022 at Rosendal Teater , Trondheim.