A new third movement for Mahler’s Piano Quartet
Fredrikstad & Sarpsborg | 21–22 January 2026
NordSync Lab – Østfold is a central artistic component of NordSync Forum – Østfold, bringing together professional musicians and a composer from across the Nordic region for an intensive artistic laboratory focused on one core question:
How can an unfinished classical masterpiece be completed in a meaningful, contemporary way?
The Lab centres on Gustav Mahler’s Piano Quartet in A minor, a work that survives today as one completed movement from 1876, later complemented by a second movement composed by Alfred Schnittke in 1988. Through NordSync Lab, the quartet receives a newly composed third movement, written specifically for this project and developed in close collaboration between composer and performers.
The result of NordSync Lab – Østfold will be presented in three public concerts:
Together, these concerts form a regional mini-tour and a public showcase of the Lab’s artistic outcome.
About the Lab
NordSync Lab functions as a meeting point between composition, performance, reflection, and experimentation. During the Forum, the ensemble works intensively on the new third movement, exploring how historical material, modern compositional language, and contemporary performance practice can coexist within a unified artistic whole.
The Lab is not only a rehearsal space, but a collaborative process where artistic dialogue is central. The work culminates in live performances that present Mahler’s quartet as a complete, three-movement work for the first time in this form.
Participants
Emma Alrikson – viola (Sweden)
Emma Alrikson holds a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and is an active concert musician in Sweden, performing both as a violinist and violist. She recently appeared as soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Växjö Symphony Orchestra. Emma plays a viola made by Sweden’s most renowned instrument maker, Peter Westerlund.
Viktor Pellia – piano (Finland)
Pianist Viktor Pellia has lived in Finland since 2011. He has won numerous prizes in international competitions and has performed as a soloist and chamber musician in Finland, Norway, France, Germany, and Russia. As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Karelian State Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Kuopio City Orchestra, Oulu City Orchestra, and Savonlinna Camerata. In addition to an active concert career, he works as an accompanist and is currently affiliated with the Tampere Conservatory of Music.
Maria Serafin – cello (Norway)
Maria Serafin grew up in a musical family on Nesodden, Norway, and began playing the cello at the age of ten at Barratt Due Institute of Music. She studied with Hans Josef Groh before continuing her education in Austria, first in Salzburg with Prof. Heidi Litschauer, and later in Graz, where she completed both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in performance and chamber music at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz.
Maria has been a principal cellist at the Theatre in Graz and performed with ensembles such as Grazer Kammerorchester, Con fuoco, Wiener Bachsolisten, and Grazer Philharmonisches Orchester. After ten years in Austria, she has returned to Norway and now works as a freelance musician and pedagogue in Eastern Norway.
Stepan Frolov- violin (Norway)
Stepan holds a master’s degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music, where he studied with Professor Elise Båtnes. He has participated in numerous festivals as both a soloist and chamber musician. Stepan has had the honor of performing on a violin over 300 years old, on loan from the Royal Swedish Academy of Music in Stockholm.
August Næss Jørgensen – composer (Norway)
August Næss Jørgensen is a musician and composer from Nesna on the Helgeland coast of Norway. He has worked extensively as a performing musician and, in recent years, as a composer for theatre and film/video. After completing his academic degree in music, he developed a strong interest in film music. His work is inspired by composers such as Ramin Djawadi, Hans Zimmer, and Ludwig Göransson, and is characterised by organic sound colours combined with electronic elements and minimalist melodic structures.
From Lab to stage
NordSync Lab – Østfold demonstrates how new music can emerge from dialogue with the past, and how collaborative artistic processes can connect composers, performers, and audiences. Through its three concerts in Fredrikstad, Moss, and Sarpsborg, the Lab opens its work to the public and offers a rare opportunity to experience Mahler’s Piano Quartet as a completed, contemporary artistic statement.
NordSync Lab – Østfold is developed as part of NordSync Forum – Østfold, strengthening artistic exchange, interdisciplinary thinking, and Nordic collaboration.
NordSync Project 