Mette Henriette is a Sámi-Norwegian saxophonist, composer and improviser working across creative disciplines.
In 2015, at the age of 24, Mette Henriette was the first artist to debut with a double album on ECM Records. Produced by Manfred Eicher and graced with a portrait by Anton Corbijn, the album includes 90 minutes of music for her trio and large ensemble consisting of jazz, classical and tango musicians.
Having toured internationally for more than a decade, Mette Henriette is a sought-after performer whose presence on stage unites her capacity as an improviser, composer and bandleader — all while challenging the traditional concert format with her eclectic experience in other creative fields. Her performances and stage works have been commissioned and presented by leading festivals and art institutions worldwide including Barbican Hall, Berliner Festspiele, Dark Mofo, documenta14, Moldejazz, Musée d’Orsay, Munch Museum, Ultima International Contemporary Festival, Rewire, Riddu Riđđu and The Royal Palace of Norway.
Although appearing most frequently on tour with her own ensembles, Mette Henriette occasionally does solo performances, guest performances with other bands and collaborative projects. Among her past and current collaborators are Marina Abramovic, Nicolas Jaar, Radik Tyulyush, Darkside, Valgeir Sigurdsson, Hege Haagenrud, Jo Strømgren, Cikada String Quartet and Trondheim Symphony Orchestra.
Mette Henriette has composed orchestra works commissioned by Oslo Philharmonic and Klaus Mäkelä (later performed by The Hallé at The Bridgewater Hall), string orchestra piece commissioned Arctic Philharmonic, piano trio piece commissioned by Cikada and one piece for solo violin commissioned by Eldbjørg Hemsing.
Her latest album Drifting released on ECM Records in 2023, is highly praised by the International press including The Guardian, Pitchfork, Downbeat, Radio France, Télérama, Jazzwise, All About Jazz, Jazz Magazine, JAZZIZ, BR Klassic, Stereogum and Musica Jazz.
She has also been featured on TV and radio (BBC 6 Radio, Radio France, Bayrischer Rundfunk, Deutchlandradio Kultur, TSF Jazz Radio, Worldwide FM, Público, ERA2 and NRK) as well as in magazines (The Independent, Jazzwise, Jazz Magazine, Jazz News, La Repubblica, Le Soir, Musica Jazz, Süddeutsche Zeitung and ELLE France)
Mette Henriette is the recipient of Statens Kunstnerstipend, Sametingets Kunstnerstipend, Gramart Artiststipend, TONO Komponistsipend and School for Improvisational Music NYC Scholarship. She had artist residencies at Southbank Centre, Artica Svalbard and Edvard Munch’s Ekely.
She was nominated as ‘Composer of the year’ at Sámi Music Awards and Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy Awards) Export Award, and has been awarded with Adressas Musikkpris and Geir Digernes Minnepris.