In 2006 Marianne Thorsen was appointed Professor of Violin at the Department of Music at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. She also has an active performing career. As a soloist, she has performed with the Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, all the Norwegian orchestras and many of the major orchestras in Scandinavia.
Marianne enjoys a regular collaboration with the Trondheim Soloists with which she recorded Mozart's Violin Concertos Nos 3, 4 and 5 for 2L to great critical acclaim, winning the Norwegian Spellemann Prize. Her recording with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra of Ståle Kleiberg's Violin Concerto, dedicated to her, received an American Grammy nomination in 2010; and Marianne gave the world premiere of Ketil Hvoslef's Violin Concerto, also dedicated to her, broadcast live on national Norwegian television with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra / Vassily Sinaisky. 2011-2014 saw the release of five CDs of music by Halvorsen and Svendsen on the Chandos label, with Thorsen as soloist alongside the Bergen Philharmonic and Neeme Järvi, including Svendsen's Violin Concerto which was nominated for the Spellemann Prize.
A keen chamber musician, Marianne Thorsen has performed with such eminent artists as Leif Ove Andsnes, Marc-André Hamelin, Truls Mørk, Paul Lewis, Pascal Rogé, Lars Anders Tomter and Håvard Gimse at Norwegian festivals including Oslo, Bergen, Trondheim and Stavanger; and at the BBC Proms in London and at the Edinburgh, Bath and Cheltenham Festivals in the UK (live broadcasts for BBC Radio 3).
Marianne Thorsen was leader of the internationally renowned Nash Ensemble of London from 2000-2015 and a founder member of the Leopold String Trio from 1991-2006 with extensive tours throughout Europe, Australia and the USA and numerous recordings for Hyperion Records in London.
From 2009-2013, Marianne was Artistic Director of Vinterfestspill i Bergstaden festival in Røros, Norway, alongside her husband, Alasdair Strange (Artistic Consultant). Marianne plays a violin by G.B.Guadagnini, by arrangement with Dextra Musica.
