Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Norwegian Festival Special
Norwegian Organ Festival expanding its horizons Having marked its 25th anniversary in 2015, the Norway Organ Festival is this year expanding its horizons. Through collaborations with other festivals and introducing a wider spectrum of events, this year’s festival can offer concerts, lectures and even a newly introduced day for children. By Didrik Ottesen | Photos: Kristofer Ryde
Themed on a landscape topic, this year the festival will again host some of the industry’s biggest names, including Norway’s most famous organists Nils Henrik Asheim and Kåre Nordstoga. The former, who is also a composer, will premiere his latest composition for orchestra and organ, Sudden Landscapes, during the festival. Aiming for a wider audience under new management, this year’s festival, which takes place in Stavanger this September, aspires to please both the artistic and the conservative crowd. “We’re hosting several concerts and performances this year. And through collaboration with various cultural organisers in the Stavanger and Sandnes area, there will also be events aimed particularly at children — with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart as the protagonist — as well as concerts aimed more 64 | Issue 84 | January 2016
specifically at older people,” says Arnfinn Tobiassen, artistic director of Norwegian Organ Festival. “One of the events intended for children is a musical theatre piece, called The Fairytale of Mozart, written by Minken Fosheim.” Tobiassen continues: “We’re also planning to host lectures and performances. The opening concert will be Kåre Nordstoga with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, performing a spectacular Alexandre Guilmant symphony. Brit David Titterington, who is the festival leader for St Alban’s International Organ Festival, is booked along with Norwegian Espen Melbøe, performing Max Reger’s Inferno, which is a piece leaving as large an impression as it sounds.” The festival will also host classes, where the performing artists will teach and give lectures to the audience. And then there is of course the Sunday Mass, or Divine
Service, in Stavanger Cathedral on the final day. “That will undoubtedly be a highlight,” says Tobaissen. Described as a festival combining entertainment, art and a place to exchange knowledge, the Norwegian Organ Festival is utilising its characteristic qualities effectively. That, fused with its geographical location, has seen the festival develop into one of the most appreciated festivals for classical music in the country. “Stavanger and Sandnes are both tremendous cities, in terms of both location and activities and restaurants, however the region also has many churches and therefore also organs,” Tobiassen explains. “The organs in the area have over the past few years developed from quite ordinary to extraordinary.” And he has a point. Last year, Stavanger Cathedral’s organ was returned to the city following restoration work – a stunningly fitting symbol marking the festival’s 25th anniversary and beyond. For more information, please visit: www.orgelfestival.no