biography
trumpeter – singer – songwriter
Celebrated for her soulful, lyrical sound and compelling musicality, Norwegian trumpeter Tine Thing Helseth has established herself as one of the leading voices of her generation, bringing the trumpet repertoire to audiences across six continents. With an intensely creative and open-minded approach, she continually expands the instrument’s possibilities through performances spanning the classical canon, contemporary works and new commissions.
Since 2023, Tine has been Artistic Director of the Risør Chamber Music Festival, an institution with which she has enjoyed a longstanding association spanning more than a decade. Her achievements have been recognised with numerous honours, including the 2026 Spellemannprisen for “Best Classical Recording”, “Newcomer of the Year” at the 2013 Echo Klassik Awards, the 2009 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship, and second prize at the 2006 Eurovision Young Musicians Competition, where she later returned as a juror in 2016. In 2007, she became the first classical artist to receive the “Newcomer of the Year” award at Norway’s prestigious Spellemannprisen.
Committed to expanding the trumpet repertoire, Tine regularly collaborates with composers and orchestras to bring new works to audiences. In November 2026, she will give the world premiere of Frozen Light, a new trumpet concerto by Swedish composer Albert Schnelzer inspired by the Scandinavian winter, with the Wermland Opera Orchestra in Sweden. Since 2025, Tine has also been championing Nico Muhly’s Doom Painting, a concerto written for her and premiered with the Antwerp Symphony Orchestra under Markus Poschner, followed by performances with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra under Hannu Lintu at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Oslo Philharmonic under Pekka Kuusisto, and The Hallé under Alpesh Chauhan. In the 2026/27 season, she will give the Polish premiere with the Warsaw Philharmonic and the US premiere with the Utah Symphony. Previous works written for Tine include Bent Sørensen’s Trumpet Concerto and Britta Byström’s Screen Memories – Trumpet Concerto No. 2.
Other highlights of Tine’s 2026/27 season include her return to London’s Southbank Centre for a curated ensemble performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall celebrating Nadia and Lili Boulanger, as well as orchestral appearances with Sinfonieorchester Basel at the Salzburg Kulturvereinigung, the Belgian National Orchestra, a play-directed chamber concert with the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, and a return to the US with the Winston-Salem Symphony Orchestra. She also appears at festivals including the second Han-Na Chang Daejeon Grand Festival in South Korea, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival with the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra, the Domaine Forget International Festival in Canada, and the Baku International Festival.
Tine continues regular tours with her ten-piece, all-female brass ensemble tenThing. Founded in 2007 as a creative project with her closest musical friends, the ensemble has gone on to perform for audiences across Europe, the USA and China. Past festival appearances include the BBC Proms, Schleswig-Holstein, Beethoven Bonn, Gstaad, MDR Musiksommer, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Rheingau, Merano, Thüringer Bachwochen, and Bremen. In 2026/27, the group will tour twice: to the Vilnius Winds Festival in Lithuania in October 2026, followed by a tour to the USA in April 2027.
A sought-after soloist, Tine has appeared with leading orchestras including the Bamberger Symphoniker, NDR Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at the Proms, the Sofia, Oslo, Bergen and Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestras, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin, Norwegian Radio Orchestra, The Hallé, the Konzerthaus Orchester Berlin, the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, as well as the Seattle, Minnesota, Baltimore and Cincinnati Symphony Orchestras, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, KBS Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
She also collaborates frequently with distinguished chamber ensembles such as the Norwegian, Zurich, and Munich Chamber Orchestras, the Australian Chamber Orchestra, Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.
Tine records for Norwegian label LAWO. Her latest release, Echoes (October 2025), features trumpet concertos by Alexander Arutiunian, Krzysztof Penderecki and Mieczysław Weinberg, alongside Arutiunian’s vibrant Theme and Variations, recorded with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and Petr Popelka. The album won the 2025 Norwegian Spellemannprisen for Best Classical Recording, with one reviewer describing Helseth as “absolutely at her peak, completely free and using every available trumpet sound colour”.
Her previous album, She Composes like a Man (2024), recorded with tenThing Brass Ensemble, celebrated the work of female composers through specially commissioned arrangements by Jarle Storløkken. This was preceded by Seraph (2022), which received worldwide recognition including a 5-star review from BBC Music Magazine, and Magical Memories for Trumpet and Organ (2021), named Gramophone Editor’s Choice and awarded 5 stars by BBC Music Magazine. Earlier recordings include Storyteller (Warner, 2011) with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, and Trumpet Concertos featuring concertos by Haydn, Albinoni, Neruda and Hummel with the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra (SIMAX, 2007).
Based in Oslo, Tine maintains an active role in her community as a regular TV and radio presenter and teaches at the Norwegian Academy of Music. A versatile musician, she also regularly performs in some of Norway’s most iconic jazz bars.