A Sea of Voices:
The Norwegian Soloists' Choir

June offers a unique opportunity to hear four of the foremost choirs of the Nordics in one place in Oslo! Welcome to the mini-festival A Sea of Voices.

From 3rd to the 5th of June, the city will be filled with choir music of the highest order, featuring Helsinki Chamber Choir, Ars Nova Copenhagen, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir og Eric Ericson Chamber Choir.

In the third concert, The Norwegian Soloists' Choir and conductor Grete Pedersen present scintillating music about the wild, wonderful and mysterious ocean.

Throughout history, humans have been fascinated by, and drawn to, the ocean. Its sheer force, its riches and its beauty have inspired countless composers and lyricists.

Interwoven with the music is poetry, read by Tomas van Brömssen, one of the most beloved actors of the Nordic countries.

Program

Evert Taube: Inbjudan till Bohuslän
Lars Johan Werle: Nautical Preludes (excerpts)
Richard Strauss: Der Abend
Alfred Janson: Tre dikt av Ebba Lindqvist
Arne Mellnäs: Havet
Steve Martland: Sea songs (excerpts)
Gunnar Eriksson: Glädjestranden (world premiere)
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Galina Grigorjeva: Between the Earth and Skies (Norwegian premiere)

One of the central pieces of the concert is Sea Songs by Steve Martland. Martland was a dynamic force in British music, and composed across many different genres. This lively, minimalist piece depicts the lives of sailors, and tells of the dangers that await out at sea, and also of the companionship - and the worries of those who wait for the sailors at home.

The concert opens with Nautical Preludes, which follows a trade ship travelling the seven seas. Composer Lars Johan Werles had a blossoming of creativity when he started working with texts and voices, something Nautical Preludes shows clearly.

In Richard Strauss’ subdued Der Abend, we follow the last rays of sunshine as they illuminate the sea. Schiller’s beautiful text about the evening and the quiet of night, and about renewal and rebirth, is beautifully echoed in Strauss’ music.

For us northerners, the ocean has special significance. The second part of the concert offers musical pearls revolving around this fact. We hear three Swedish composers, as well as Norwegian composer Alfred Janson’s Tre Dikt av Ebba Lindqvist (Three Poems by Ebba Lindqvist). Lindqvist’s expressive poetry also returns during one the concert’s centrepieces: The premiere of Gunnar Eriksson’s brand new work, set to the words of the poem Sargassohav.

The concert reaches a grand finale when all the Nordic choirs join forces in the University Aula to premiere a piece by Ukraine's Gilana Grigorjeva. The work is commissioned for this project to explore different aspects of climate change.

Festival pass

With a festival pass you get admission to all four concerts for NOK 700. Purchase before may 1st and the price is NOK 500. Read more and buy a festival pass here.

This project is a part of The Nordic Choir Expedition, that takes place from 1.-9. June in the Nordic capitals. Before Oslo, the choirs visit Helsinki. After that comes Stockholm, before the tour ends in Copenhagen.

This project is funded by Creative Europe, Nordic Culture Point, Anders Jahres Humanitære Stiftelse and Sparebankstiftelsen DNB.