His main achievement was his ground breaking work on the international arena. VNJS became a member of Europe Jazz Network (EJN) in 1999. He was a member of the board and fuctioned as sectretary and treasurer in 2001 and served as General Secretary in the network from 2002 - 2007. In this period Bo together with Giambattista Tofoni put a lot of resources into the network managing the organization to get back on it's feet financially. From 2008 - 10 he was a member of the board. VNJS was a partner of the EJN initiated and EU supported project "Europe Jazz Odyssey" (2002 - 04) creating artistic exchange and cooperation, artist in residencies, seminars, workshops and recordings. Bo is one of few who can decipher the application form from EU, a skill that came in handy when he helped Gerry Godley with getting Union support for the talent launch "12 Points". In 2000 Bergen was the European capital of culture alongside nine other cities. Bo made contact with the jazz community in several of those cities in order to create an artistic exchange programme. Together with his old friend and associate, Kjell Kalleklev Bo initiated both the show case "JazzNorway in A Nutshell" and "Norwegian Jazz Launch", a three year marketing and travel support programme. Bo has developed "JazzNorway in A Nutshell" into one of the best show cases of it's kind and by that opening doors abroad to many Norwegian jazz musicians. Just as important is the 'side effect' of this programme - over the years festival and concert promoters as well as journalists has developed an informal network that has lead to exchange and cooperation on different levels. The work with international relations was closest to his heart and he had a huge network. Still Bo was not the man for diplomatic small talk. His arena was around the big dinner table with good wine and food and good friends. He could keep the whole table entertained for hours with his never ending source of anecdotes and his quirky sense of humour. He had a strong sense of justice and was a most loyal and generous friend. Rest in peace, Don Bo. Lars Mossefinn
Our Memory of Bo Grønningsæter
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.