HØST
H Ø S T
Lene Høst
Liv Vester
Maja Freese
Filippa Westerberg
The four women in the vocal quartet Høst got together with a shared vision of creating a vocal playground. Using nothing but their voices, they interpret and challenge the traditions of Nordic folk music as well as modern polyphonic singing. With inspiration from Nordic instrumental folk, Bulgarian women’s choir and the harmonic universe of jazz, they are creating their very own sound of beautiful melodies, forceful and raw dissonances and playful grooves.
In 2022 Høst received two awards in the international vocal group competition at Aarhus Vocal Festival, and in 2023 they won the 2nd prize at Tampere Vocal Festival in Finland. In 2023 they also published their first album “Fuglesang” (“Birdsong”) as a tribute to nature and the power of the human voice. Høst is a new vocal response to the Danish folk music scene, but the four members of the quartet, are already well versed in the genre as singers as well as instrumentalists from bands like Vingefang, Vesselil, Huldrelokkk, Barani, Mynsterland, Kaisin, etc.
'I was totally impressed with the sound of their opener - so much so, that I had to check with the technician to make sure there was no harmonizer, looper, or playback in their performance. I am proud of such a strong FEMALE ensemble!'
- Kim Nazarian, judge at Aarhus Vocal Festival ‘22
‘Dynamisk, groovy og nøgent udleverende. Arrangementerne er skrevet så man tydeligt hører hver enkelt stemme og dens kvaliteter. Indimellem er det jazzet med tætte klange, andre gange er stemmerne instrumentale og rytmiske, og indimellem følges de ad i historiefortællingen. Der er både et råt, oprindeligt og groundet udtryk og en smuk klang.’
- Emma Björling, Kongero, Lyy m.fl.
‘Der er en rå urkraft i det de laver som gør, at de skiller sig ud fra mange andre vokalensembler på en fed måde.’
- Roar Amundsen, Songcrafter Music, Vocal Line
About the singers
Liv Vester Larsen, educated violinist from the folk music department and currently attending the soloist program - Contemporary Creative Artist as a violinist, singer and composer with her debut performance “Creative - without nature?” coming up in 2021. Liv has played in theatre productions such as “Højskolesangbogen” at the Kgl. Teater, toured abroad with Huldrelokkk and Kelpie and in DK she plays with Mikael K and Klondyke, Alamente and collaborates with SLØR Visual performance amongst others. This multitasking musician is focusing on thinking out of the box and being creative, blurring the lines between the many genres she works within and still keeping true to her roots - and she loves dissonances - fitting right in to the Høst-universe Check her podcast out at www.livvesterlarsen.com where you can hear her conducting interviews with artists from all over the world about creativity.
Maja Freese has a bachelor degree in 5-stringed cello from the folk music department at the Danish National Acadamy. She has recently composed a song that was incorporated in the 19th edition of Højskolesangbogen (“Leonoras Morgendigt”) and you can experience Maja as a singer, cellist and composer in the trio Vesselil, a group that puts focus on women’s stories and faiths in old folk music. Maja also plays in Vingefang, Barani Duo, Mynsterland and Bianca Nisha among other constellations. She loves to combine cello and song, music with groove and to dust off forgotten old songs and show the relevance and soul of it - and that is something we love in Høst!
Lene Høst is a singer, composer and teacher. With roots in the Nordic folk music she has also explored other genres and styles from countries like Tanzania, Bulgaria and Brazil. Lene has a bachelor degree in folk music and a master in rhythmical singing and choir conducting. Her passion to combine polyphonic singing with traditional vocal music is the inspiration for many of her musical projects, here among the trio Vingefang, the choir Roots and now also Høst. You can also experience Lene in the folk/baroque-trio Alamente and early music ensemble Via Artis Konsort. She is also working as a teacher and coordinator at the Danish National Academy in Esbjerg at the folk music program.
Filippa Westerberg is a classically trained cellist with a master degree from the Danish National Academy of Music. Currently she is attending the soloist program - Contemporary Creative Artist as a cellist, singer and composer. Filippa has always loved to play and sing different genres - mostly classical, jazz, pop and folk music. She has been spotted on various musical scenes and in Odense symphony orchestra and you can currently find her in different projects and bands for example Kaisin and Trio Videungar. She has been singing in vocal settings and choirs in different styles all her life, especially with her big family and now she has a new singing-family in HØST.
