Marta Sandal was born in Norway 1878. She began giving concerts at the age of twelve and after receiving great reviews in the national press, began performing with the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

Sandal toured Europe before moving to America where she performed with the Pittsburgh Orchestra. She carried with her a letter of introduction from Grieg who wrote: “Gifted and intelligent as she is, I have no doubt that she will succeed in winning the hearts of the new world as well as she did it in her own country.”

In 1914 Sandal married Gudmund Rörtvedt, a farmer from Erfjord, Norway. The couple lived in Montana, where they raised four children. Marta Sandal-Rörtvedt died after a long illness on 2nd March, 1930.