Marina Hasselberg

LIVE ARTIST | MOTHER CLOUD SPATIAL SOUND FESTIVAL

Boundless inquisitiveness sits at the very heart of award-winning cellist Marina Hasselberg's rich artistic practice. Over the past decade, she has traveled a distinctive route that has variously led her through early music, free improvisation, the fringes of pop songcra, electronics, contemporary chamber music, and an array of interdisciplinary collaborations that resist classification.

Hasselberg's deep and meticulous explorations have culminated in a solo practice that blends disparate elements from various musical realms. Her debut album RED (out October 2022 on Redshi Records) sees her insightful interpretive vision colliding with her improvisatory prowess. Recorded by violinist and JUNO and Polaris-winning producer Jesse Zubot, the disc leads listeners through an eclectic, electronics-infused, and deeply personal collection that weaves compositions by everyone from Domenico Gabrielli to Linda Catlin Smith, together with spontaneous performances that feature Hasselberg amidst a cast of her frequent collaborators: Aram Bajakian, Kenton Loewen, Giorgio Magnanensi, and Zubot.

Her relationship with the cello was ignited at age 11 during her studies at the musical academy of Évora, in her native Portugal. She later completed a Bachelor's degree in Lisbon, and in 2008, she came to Canada to pursue a Masters degree in Literature and Performance from the University of Western Ontario. Since making Vancouver her home, Hasselberg has become a fixture within an assortment of the city's musical communities—both strictly as a cellist and as a vital creative instigator. In 2016, she was the recipient of the City of Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for Emerging Artist in Music.

Marina’s performances are a provocative, deeply personal mix of classification-resistant original written works and adventurous improvised excursions, with Hasselberg employing extended techniques, a variety of bows and accessories, and electronics to skirt the fine line between the known and the unknown.

More about Marina Hasselberg here.