January 23rd - February 1st 2025
The north-eastern part of Northern Norway is home to one of the most distinct borders in the world. Across the border from Pasvik and Grense Jakobselv, something completely different and foreign - culturally, linguistically, religiously, ideologically and politically - begins. For a long time, Sør-Varanger was the only part of Western Europe that bordered directly on what was the Soviet Union and is now Russia.
After the Russian assault on Ukraine, this borderland has become even more important to understand.
Sør-Varanger Suite by author Kjartan Fløgstad is a lyrical work that reflects the wealth, the friendship between people, the contradictions, misunderstandings and tensions that characterize life in this borderland. In the songs, we hear the voices of people who experience the border situation on an individual level.
Trygve Seim has distinguished himself for many years as both a composer and a saxophonist. As a composer, he has moved from free jazz and thematic improvisation towards more meticulously composed music, focusing on tone and melody. In 2016, he received the Spellemann Award in the Open Category for the album Rumi Songs, where Tora Augestad was the vocalist.
The charismatic mezzo-soprano Tora Augestad is known to the northern Norwegian audience as the festival profile of the 2023 Nordland Music Festival. Augestad regularly performs with orchestras and ensembles worldwide, including the Bergen and Oslo Philharmonic Orchestras, Ensemble Modern, and Klangforum Wien. In 2004, she founded the ensemble Music for a While, known for its genre-crossing chamber music.
NyNorsk Brass Quintet has developed a unique repertoire by combining contemporary music with performing arts and literature. The ensemble has made its mark with over 40 world premieres since 2016, and for its contributions to Norwegian contemporary music, it was awarded the 2021 Performer of the Year by the Norwegian Society of Composers. The critically acclaimed debut album Hornflowers, featuring music by Nils Henrik Asheim, was released on LAWO Classics in June 2021.
Welcome to a Pre-Talk
As a prelude to the concert, in collaboration with Litteraten, we invite you to a discussion on the boundaries between art and reality with Kjartan Fløgstad and Ruben Moi. The world premiere of the song cycle, composed by Trygve Seim, provides an excellent opportunity to reflect on the meaning, connections, and boundaries between art and reality, between literature and music, both in the North and the South. What does the author himself think?
Kjartan Fløgstad made his literary debut with poetry in 1968 and has since published over fifty books, many of them award-winning, across various genres: novels, essays, poems, translations. His works have been translated into many languages. As a lyricist, his song lyrics have been set to music by numerous Norwegian composers. After living five years in Bjørnevatn and serving in the Varanger Battalion, Fløgstad has an in-depth knowledge of the people and living conditions in the area.
The conversation will be held in Norwegian
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