Makta

Season X

The TV series MAKTA ('Power Play', NRK) garnered attention both nationally and internationally, not least for its unconventional score. Film composer and producer Kåre Chr. Vestrheim was tasked with creating a soundtrack with an anarchistic, bold, and playful expression—even before filming began. To bring this vision to life, he assembled a team: the creative musicians/composers/producers Eivind Helgerød, Andréa Louise Horstad, and Kristoffer Lo.

Under Vestrheim’s musical direction, the soundtrack for MAKTA was improvised in the studio by the team of composers who became known as MAKTA Komponistlag. The unique result earned the Best original score award at Canneseries and the Music Publishers’ Prize in 2023, and was recently nominated for the 2025 Harpa Nordic Film Composer Award.

Among the many drawn to the modern history of Norway’s Labour Party through the series was Bergen International Festival Director Lars Petter Hagen. He was particularly captivated by the peculiar yet beautiful soundtrack.

'Later, I learned that the music was created before the series was filmed, a concept I found very appealing. That’s when the idea of a soundtrack for a non-existent season of MAKTA was born,' says Hagen.

During the Bergen International Festival, MAKTA Komponistlag presents new music for a fictional season of the series. This evening, the music takes centre stage, as they delve deeper into the universe they’ve created.

'MAKTA – Season X is a soundtrack without images, existing solely in music. Though it will never be seen, it gives us the opportunity to explore the series’ universe through sound alone, where atmospheres, emotions, and political power are brought to life, detached from the visual,' says Kåre Chr. Vestrheim.

Joining MAKTA Komponistlag for the world premiere in Grieghallen are the proud amateurs of the men’s choir Rust—the voices that gave life to the political drama in the series.

Photo: Morgan Nicolaysen

Contributors

• Makta Komponistlag

• Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim musical director, keys, guitar

• Eivind Helgerød drums, percussion

• Andréa Louise Horstad bass, vocals

• Kristoffer Lo tuba, guitar

• Mannskoret Rust

• Jo Cranner, Sigurd Sørli, Mike Hartung, Andreas Brodin, Ståle Tvete Vollan, Vetle Strøm, Arthur Myhre Scott, Alf Håvard Vestrheim, Yngve Sæther choir

• Johnny Skalleberg sound design