Cecilie Ore was born in Oslo, Norway, and studied piano at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. She also studied piano in Paris, and composition at the Institute of Sonology in Utrecht, and with Ton de Leeuw at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. During the eighties, Ore gained international acclaim for several of her electro-acoustic works. 1988 saw her winning both the first and second prize at the International Rostrum for Composers in the Electro Acoustic category for her work Etapper. The same year saw Ore bestowed with the Norwegian Society of Composers´ Work of the Year Award for the orchestral work Porphyre. Towards the end of the 80s, Orce gradually introduced a compositional focus on time, a focus that would lead to work cycles Codex Temporis and Tempura Mutantur. Codex Temporis comprises works Praesens Subitus, Futurum Exactum, Erat Erit Est and Lex Temporis. The ideas presented in Codex Temporis were further developed in Tempura Mutantor which is made up of works Non Nunquam, Nunquam Non, Semper Semper and Ictus. Subsequent instrumental works constitute a trilogy in which all three works are given titles derived from various cloud formations: Cirrus, Cirrocumulis and Cirrostratus. In 1994, Ore penned the orchestral work Nunc et Nunc, commissioned by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. During the eighties, Ore would also compose a number of vocal works, including Calliope which has seen frequent performances in the ensuing decades. Ore's vocal focus would continue with 2001's A – a shadow opera which was premiered at the Ultima Oslo Contemporary Music Festival and released in album format in 2003. The same year also saw Ore composing Schwirren, a work written for vocal ensemble Nordic Voices. 2005's Lux Illuxit, a sound-installation commissioned by the National Archives of Norway, also employs widespread use of texts and vocal materials. Ore's post 2000 compositional output shows an increasing focus on text-based and socio-critical music with compositional themes spanning from capital punishment to freedom of speech. In 2008, the Norwegian National Opera and Ballet premiered her chamber opera Dead Beat Escapement. 2013 saw the performance of a work commissioned by BBC Radio 3 and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival premiered at the hcmf in November. In spring 2015, Ore's opera Adam & Eve – a Divine Comedy was premiered at the Bergen International Festival. In March 2016, Ore's choir work Dead Pope on Trial! Saw a performance at the Other Minds Festival in San Francisco. Ore was awarded the Arne Nordheim Composer's Price for 2004 and in 2015 she was bestowed with the Lindemanprisen.
Honors and awards
First and second prize at the International Rostrum for Electro-Acoustic Music, 1988.
