Maja Bugge is an acclaimed Norwegian cellist, composer and cello teacher based in Lancaster, UK. Since 1998 she has created a large body of work both as a solo artist and in collaboration with others. Her works have been commissioned by Manchester Jazz festival, Lancaster Arts, Full of Noises, the National Theatre Oslo and Jazz North.
She has a particular interest in devising work with and for children and young people, and has won several prizes and scholarships, including MJF Hothouse (2018), Jazz Norths Northern Line (2016) and The Cultural Rucksack Norway’s best performance for Usynlig (2010).
We are excited to have Maja join us at Durham Jazz Festival with Parliamentary Jazz Award winning pianist Dave Evans. Maja and Dave have been working together since 2023 performing extensively both in Norway and the UK. In 2026 they are releasing their first album SORTLAND on the Norwegian label Finito Bacalao Records. This work is a musical exploration of Maja’s home City situated 68 degrees North above the Arctic Circle. The compositions hold narratives around nature, heritage, location and belonging. It experiments with space, stillness and repetition. At times joyful and playful, and at others quiet and vulnerable, this music is not afraid to go to the strangest or quietest of places.
“Daves lyrical piano perfectly complements Majas imaginative cello and, although not an instrument you’d associate with jazz, in her hands it can go from delicate orchestral to a fat sounding funk and all ranges in between.” David Gosling – Jazz promoter, LIVE at Brampton, January 2026.
