First Dance by Evelina Petrova Trio

An international encounter between three different musical traditions, backgrounds, and instruments. Evelina Petrova Trio has a surprisingly organic and natural sound, with room for the beautiful and the ugly, the tonal and the atonal – always warm and heartfelt.
Evelina Petrova Trio’s debut album, First Dance, presents an encounter between Russian folk songs performed by Evelina Petrova (RU) on accordion and vocals; Norwegian folk music on Hardanger fiddle played by Laura Ellestad (CA); and soundscapes and Nordic jazz from the trombone and effect pedals of Andreas Rotevatn (NO).
First Dance will be released on Heilo on October 25, followed by a release concert at Deichmanske Hovedbibliotek in Oslo on October 26. The trio has also been selected to perform showcase concerts on the main stage at Folkelarm, an international showcase festival for Nordic folk music, in November 2019, as well as a radio concert/interview conducted by the Norwegian broadcasting company, NRK.
First Dance was recorded in the one-room studio at the Department of Traditional Arts and Traditional Music in Rauland, mixed and produced by Andreas Rotevatn, and mastered by Audun Strype. The physical album features artwork by Russian artist Nikolay Sazhin.



Evelina Petrova Trio
The Oslo-based trio met during graduate studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music. This unique collaboration between three artists from the jazz, folk music, and music technology departments took the form of an experimental lab in which everything was permitted, and all possible combinations were tested. At their first rehearsal, the trio was already certain that they were on the trail of something unique.
The members of the trio live in Norway. In addition to performing in Evelina Petrova Trio, all three are active freelance musicians.

Evelina Petrova (b. 1974) from Russia has previously performed extensively with Misha Alperin. She has also performed with Jethro Tull, and in 1999 she received the “Star of the Year” award in Russia. She has a Bachelor’s degree in classical accordion and a Master’s degree in jazz/improvisation. Russian folk music has always been close to her heart.

Laura Ellestad (b. 1982) moved to Norway from Canada in 2008 to pursue an education in Norwegian Hardanger fiddle music. Among other things, this resulted in a nomination for a Norwegian Grammy Award (Spellemannprisen) in the traditional music category in 2014 for the solo album Valdresspel i Amerika, and a PhD fellowship at the Norwegian Academy of Music, with a research focus on the Norwegian folk music milieu in America. Ellestad is currently a Lecturer and Deputy Department Head at the University of South-Eastern Norway, Campus Rauland.

Andreas Rotevatn (b. 1989) is involved in a number of projects spanning several musical genres. Among other things, he performs with the traditional jazz band Ytre Suløens Jass-Ensemble, with hip-hop artist Cezinando, and in the composer orchestra OJKOS. Rotevatn has a Bachelor’s degree in jazz trombone from the Grieg Academy, and a Master’s degree in music performance technology from the Norwegian Academy of Music.

The Oslo-based trio (Evelina Petrova RU), Andreas Rotevatn (NO), Laura Ellestad (CA) ) met during graduate studies at the Norwegian Academy of Music. This unique collaboration between three artists from the jazz, folk music, and music technology departments took the form of an experimental lab in which everything was permitted, and all possible combinations were tested.