Background
Anne-Marie Ørbeck was born in Oslo in 1911 to Anton Ørbeck (1866–1927) and Inga Louise Larsen (1874–1948).
Anne-Marie Ørbeck was born in Oslo in 1911 to Anton Ørbeck (1866–1927) and Inga Louise Larsen (1874–1948).
She studied piano in Oslo and in Berlin with Sandra Drouker. In the 1950s, she studied composition again with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, and later with Hanns Jelinek in Vienna.
Her brother Gunnar Ørbeck was a violinist. She made her debut as a pianist in Oslo in 1933 with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 1939 Ørbeck married engineer Helge Smitt (1906–1985).
Her Symphony in Doctorate Major was premiered in Bergen in 1954, making her the first female Norwegian symphonic composer.
She died in Bergen in 1996.