Bjørnar Habbestad  •  flutes
Hild Sofie Tafjord  •  french horn
Lene Grenager  •  cello
Michael Duch  •  double bass

Lemur is a Norwegian all star quartet consisting of composers and improvisers. The four instrumentalists combine their work from classic composition, noise, chamber music and free jazz making a highly surprising and unique blend of contemporary sound and attitude.

The four have collaborated with players ranging from Fred Frith, Nikos Veliotis, Mats Gustafsson, Tony Conrad, Ellen Fullman, Ikue Mori, Joelle Leandre, John Tilbury, Lasse Marhaug, Maja Ratkje, Jazzkammer, Otomo Yoshihide, Peter Brötzman, Jaap Blonk, Mark Wastell, Mattin, Evan Parker to Paal Nilssen-Love.

Bjørnar Habbestad (b. 1976) is a flutist, educated in Bergen, London and Amsterdam. He works as a chamber musician in Polygon, improviser in Lemur, noisemaker in Rehab, ensemble player in N Ensemble, sound artist in Habbestad&Larsson and electroacustician in USA/USB. Habbestad has performed on most Norwegian stages and festivals for contemporary music. He has also done extended touring in Scandinavia, Europe, Asia and USA. Habbestad founded the N Collective in 2003 and currently runs N Ensemble, the collective’s ensemble-alter-ego. He is also co-curator of the Bergen-based sound gallery Lydgalleriet.

Hild Sofie Tafjord (b. 1974) is a performer and composer. She plays french horn and electronics and studied jazz and improvised music at the Norwegian Academy of Music. Tafjord has made music for dance, film, theatre and installations/sculptures. In addition to her solo project she plays in bands like Lemur, SPUNK, Agrare, Trinacria, Phantom Orchard Orchestra. She has also collaborated with numerous artists like Wolf Eyes, Campbell Kneale, Matmos, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, Otomo Yoshihide, Fred Frith, Zu and Evan Parker. She has done workshops, concerts, toured and worked with musicians and artists in Europe, USA, Canada and Asia.

Lene Grenager (b. 1969) is a cellist, composer and conductor, educated at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. She tours regularly with her main ensembles SPUNK and her main collaborator Sofia Jernberg in Europe, Asia and Canada. She also performs solo and in various ad hoc constellations. She has collaborated with artists such as Mattin, Lucio Capece and Mats Gustafsson, and has performed at festivals like FIMAV Victoriaville, Ultima, Borealis, Banlieues Bleues, Stockholm New Music og Nordic Music Days. In 2006 she released her first solo album Slåtter, slag og slark (Euridice).

Michael Francis Duch (b. 1978) plays double bass and is currently employed at the University of Trondheim doing research on the use of improvisation in experimental music. Duch has contributed on about twenty recordings, and has played solo-concerts several places in Norway, in Athens and in London. Duch is associated with a number of constellations - among them the rock band Dog & Sky, the improv quartet LEMUR, the drone trio TRICYCLE the acoustic post noise duo ORIGAMI TACET. He has also done ad hoc collaborations with Otomo Yoshihide, Taku Sugimoto, Sachiko M, Mark Wastell, Mattin, Cadillac, the Kulta Beats and Salvatore.