The Sound Ensemble

Soprano Laura Loge has been hailed for her “luminous stage presence” and “characterful and versatile voice.” Opera roles include Violetta, Musetta, Micaëla, Mother (Hansel & Gretel), Ännchen, Lisa (La Sonnambula), La Fée, Lucy (The Telephone), Rosalinda, and Suor Genovieffa, among others. She has performed as the soprano soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony and Incidental Music to Egmont, Neilsen’s Third Symphony, Fauré’s Requiem, Grieg’s Incidental Music for Peer Gynt, David Monrad Johansen’s Syv Sanger, Op.6, arranged for her and chamber orchestra, Schumann’s Mass and Requiem, Handel’s Messiah, and Verdi’s Requiem. Laura specializes in Nordic art song and chamber music, having performed across the United States and in Norway, including in Edvard Grieg’s villa. She has produced two albums of Nordic songs, including Breaking the Language Barrier: Songs in Norwegian and Danish, Composed by Foreigners and Songs and Piano Music of Edvard Grieg, Op. 33 & 66. Her next album, Der Skreg en Fugl, featuring previously unrecorded songs by Norwegian women with pianist Angela Draghicescu will be released in 2024. Laura is Artistic Director of Nordic Chamber Music, former Artistic Director of Mostly Nordic Chamber Music Series at the National Nordic Museum, and Founder and President of the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society. She received her Bachelor of Music from Saint Olaf College, and her Master of Music from the New England Conservatory and studied Nordic Art Song and chamber music at the University of Stavanger Conservatory of Music.

Steven Luksan is a composer, pianist, and educator making music in Seattle. He is a passionate advocate for the performance of new and under-performed compositions (especially those by Scandinavian and women composers) and for the performance of chamber music in intimate settings. He is the founder and artistic director of the Saltwater Music Series in Des Moines, WA, a concert series dedicated to performances of local and off-the-beaten-path chamber music. Steven Luksan is on the faculty of Music Center of the Northwest, a teaching artist at Seattle Opera, and is the accompanist for the Norwegian Male Chorus of Seattle. He currently serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Northwest Edvard Grieg Society. Steven’s compositions are influenced by folk traditions, jazz, minimalism, and the music of his favorite composers from the early 20th century, and include pieces for solo piano, chamber music including viola, oboe, or flute, and over 100 art songs. His songs include settings in English and Norwegian of poetry by Carl Sandburg, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Amy Lowell, Sigbjørn Obstfelder, Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson, Knut Hamsun, and contemporary poets including Joanne Kennedy Frazer, Jeff Fearnside, and Val Mallinson. Steven received a Master’s Degree in Music Composition from the University of British Columbia and a Bachelor’s Degree in Music and Norwegian Language from the University of Washington. Since age 6, Steven has written music for solo piano and ensembles of all sizes, from symphony orchestra to solo flute. His compositions have been performed throughout the USA, as well as in Canada, Norway, Spain, and Taiwan.

Abbie Eads is quickly establishing herself as a young, vibrant conductor and cellist. Recently named Conductor-in-Residence of the NW Edvard Grieg Society, Abbie is excited to be able to combine her passion for music and her love of her Nordic heritage. Having conducted masterclasses throughout the world, she has worked with musicians from orchestras such as the New Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, and the Lviv Philharmonic. Abbie has studied with Ludovic Morlot, Larry Rachleff, David Alexander Rahbee, Donald Schleicher, and Michael Jinbo. This season she will be conducting and performing in collaboration with ensembles like the Minot Symphony Orchestra, Western Plains Opera, Minot Chamber Chorale, and Dakota Pro Music. Previously Abbie was the Director of Music and Liturgy at Seattle’s Our Lady of the Lake Parish Director of Orchestras and Adjunct Professor at Pierce College in Puyallup, WA. During her studies in Seattle, she was conductor of the University of Washington Campus Philharmonia Orchestras and Assistant Conductor of the University of Washington Symphony Orchestra as a Graduate Assistant. Eads completed a Master’s Degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Washington under the tutelage of David A. Rahbee and Ludovic Morlot. Abbie received a Bachelor of Arts in Music at Minot State University where she studied cello with Erik Anderson. As a cellist, Eads was a soloist with the Minot Symphony Orchestra as the winner of their 2014 MSO Concerto Competition and has also been accepted to perform and study at music festivals including the Catskill High Peaks Festival and the Pierre Monteux Festival Orchestra.