" World ConneXions " is the theme for 2015
The theme of the 26th. Førdefestivalen is « World ConneXions ». – This year, the festival will focus on similarities and connections between music, song and dance traditions in different cultures through several projects, says director Hilde Bjørkum.
- It is incredibly exciting to explore different musical traditions across geographical and cultural divides, says Bjørkum. – What do oral song traditions in Europe have in common? The magical understrings on the Hardanger fiddle, do they sound the same as understrings on instruments from India, Sweden and Bulgaria? What happens when the mouth harp and the polyphonic song tradition from the mountains of Sardinia meet the exciting mouth harp playing and overtone singing from the Mongolian steppe? And how does the meeting between the West African harp kora and a classical concert harp take place? Bjørkum believes that everyone has a thirst for exploration within them and looks forward to inviting the audience on new musical journeys of discovery during this year's festival.
New productions – from understrings to vocal variations.
- Through new concert productions, we want to invite new musical experiences and convey new knowledge, says Bjørkum. – It is important for us not to just go after “celebrity artists”. We also want to create new productions and facilitate development, new experiences and new knowledge for both musicians and audiences, of course with musicians chosen from the top shelf. This is precisely an important part of our mission as a hub festival; Not to have what “everyone else has”, but to go new ways and offer people something they perhaps didn’t know they wanted, says Bjørkum.
String masters in "String ConneXions"
One of the productions is the project "String ConneXions", where master string players from four different countries meet for the first time - in Førde . What the instruments have in common is that they have resonant strings that resonate when struck. – With four top performers and over 80 strings in vibration, this will be a formidable meeting of masters with great sound experiences in store, believes Bjørkum. Participating in the project are our own Hardanger fiddle master Gro Marie Svidal from Jølster, winner of the 2014 Landskappleiken (Norwegian folk music championship), the Swedish nyckelharpe master Emilia Amper, Murad ali Khan from India on sarangi and Peyo Peev from Bulgaria on gadulka.
European voices in "Vocal ConneXions"
In this production, renowned folk singer Unni Løvlid brings together a group of prominent European vocalists to explore voice use, ornamentation, melody structure and more in European folk song. The vocalists are Scottish Julie Fowlis, French Annie Ebrel and Bulgarian Gergana Dimitrova (Eva Quartet). –This is an exciting project where we get to present something completely new, based on old traditions, says director Hilde Bjørkum, who is particularly pleased to have had the artistic director of the Norwegian Soloists' Choir, Grete Pedersen, lead the project.
One of the local names for Førdefestivalen This year, the Linda Gytri Trio is the current recording artist. This trio will also be part of the program launch that the festival will celebrate with concerts in both Florø and Sogndal at the end of March.
Mongolia meets Sardinia
Under the title Nomadic Voices, offers Førdefestivalen a unique meeting between throat singing from the highlands of Mongolia and polyphonic singing from the Sardinian mountain landscape. In the two mountain areas they also have a common instrument, the mouth harp, with solid traditions. – The singing, the voices and the harmonies. The way these two traditions complement each other is magical, says the festival director.
Wales and West Africa in a virtuoso harp meeting
With the duo Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita, the festival has secured two of the hottest names on the international world music scene. Keita is a griot with roots in great musical families in both Mali and Senegal, and one of the foremost performers on the West African harp, the kora. Finch is the harp queen of Wales, where the harp is the most Welsh of all instruments. She plays with the best orchestras in the world and soloists such as Bryn Terfel. Catrin Finch and Seckou Keita both stand in a long, shared tradition from their respective homelands, with storytelling through song and play passed down orally from generation to generation.
Their release Clychau Dibon (2013) was voted best album in both Songlines and MOJO Magazine, won best cross-cultural collaboration 2014 in Songlines, and is on the Best of lists of both The Guardian and BBC. The duo recently played at the major Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow, and this summer they are ready for Førde ! – This is a unique meeting between two world-class virtuosos, says director Hilde Bjørkum. – An absolute must in this year's festival program!