Formed by clarinetist and composer Elena Perales Andreu and percussionist and composer Madalena Rato, araia is a duo born out of a deep friendship and shared cultural heritage. Both originally from the Iberian Peninsula and now based in Oslo, the duo's name is inspired by "A Raia," the border between Portugal and Spain—a name that reflects their artistic mission to work at the intersection of musical boundaries.
ARAIA works exclusively with contemporary music, whether in collaborations with other composers
or through their own compositions and improvisations. They are committed to expanding the lines, boundaries, and limits for themselves, composers, and listeners alike.
madalena
Portuguese percussionist based between Lisbon and Oslo. Her practice includes percussion, performance and composition, always with a special interest in sound exploration and extended listening.
She often collaborates with composers such as Luis Fernando Amaya, Elena Perales Andreu, Ángeles Rojas, Ferdinand Schwarz, and others. Madalena is active in the contemporary and experimental music scene, having played in different festivals such as Darmstädter Ferienkurse – Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (Germany), Ultima Festival (Norway), Only Connect (Norway), Interpuls (Norway) and Festival Itinerante de Percussão (Portugal).
Madalena is a member of ARAIA, a clarinet / percussion duo that works with collective composition and improvisation; Umbra, a violin/percussion duo that explores contemporary music for this peculiar formation; is one of the member-founders of Å Collective, a contemporary music ensemble based in Oslo; and CIGARRA, the percussion ensemble of Cigarra – Associação Cultural based in Lisbon.
She has played with several ensembles, most notably Oslo Sinfonietta and Les Percussions de Strasbourg.
Madalena finished her master's degree in performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music with Jennifer Torrence and Kjell Tore Innervik. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa with Pedro Carneiro, Richard Buckley and Jeffery Davis in 2023.
elena
Elena is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice includes performance, improvisation, composition, and visual art. Her work is informed by the examination of psychological constructs, the idea of community, the interconnection of contrasting artistic fields, and the implication of ritual practices.
As a clarinet performer, Elena is active in the contemporary and experimental music scene, guiding her own projects as well as taking part in different festivals such as Darmstädter Ferienkurse – Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (Germany), Ultima Festival (Norway), Bergen Ung Nordisk Musik, (Norway), International Festival Aurora Chamber Music (Sweden), Internationale Junge Orchesterakademie (Germany), Only Connect (Norway) and Svensk Musikvår Festival (Sweden). Also, in the improvisation world, Perales has been performing in different countries like Spain, Estonia, Sweden, Germany, Norway, Finland, USA, and Mexico.
Elena holds a Master in Composition and Performance in Contemporary Music (CoPeCo) completed at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm. She also obtained her Bachelor's studies in Clarinet Performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music.
She is a Uebel-endorsed artist, performing on their Zenit mopane model.