The program for Førdefestivalen 2021 is ready
FRIKA comes with the show SKAUT.
Førdefestivalen 2021 kicks off in just under three months, July 7-11, and the entire program is now ready. The theme for this year's festival is HOME, but the program is international as always. The world is coming to Førde also this year, albeit in a slightly different way. There will be music from 24 countries, but the musicians who will be on stage all live in Norway. - The festival program is large, lasts five days, includes several world premieres and new productions, and in total just as many concerts as a normal year, says director Per Idar Almås. The big difference is that the festival this year will have a very reduced audience capacity. In other words, there is every possible reason for everyone who wants to go to the festival to secure tickets for the concerts in advance.
Reduced audience capacity
-The biggest challenge for Førdefestivalen It is clear to us that we will have much less audience capacity than usual. For example, we are now planning our largest concerts for a maximum of 200 people, while we usually have seating for over 1900 in the rebuilt sports hall! explains Almås. -It sounds crazy, but we have decided to do it, at the same time as we hope that we are now on the right track to increase capacity, at least in such large venues. For infection control reasons, we have already had to remove a couple of traditional arenas from this year's program, and if there is anything we are prepared for, it is that there will be changes, perhaps right up until the festival starts.
The Kvedar Quintet with the commissioned work TAGALOG
Premieres and new projects
IN Førde in July is the first time you can hear the commissioned work Jorun Marie Kvernberg has composed for the Kvedarkvintetten. The title is Tagal , and it is about the wordless folk song tradition, the so-called troll language. -This is a personal and individual language that each performer develops and is alone in, and it is thus unique for the Kvedarkvintetten to find a common troll language for five voices, says Kvernberg.
Folk music and storytelling are a new collaboration between Førdefestivalen and Rom for ord. This is a concert production where we hear literary portraits of slåtekkelder, side by side with the music we have after them. The fiddle player Britt Pernille Frøholm from Hornindal has shared her slåtekkelder with the author Marianne Clementine Håheim from Jølster, who has portrayed them in literary texts.
The cartel 's dance performance , "Dancing on a pole, dancing on a pole ," was a commissioned work to Førdefestivalen last year. -The theme is men dancing with men. The tradition originates from the Lofoten fishing industry and goes back a long, long way, but it is still controversial, according to Sigurd Johan Heide, artistic director of Kartellet. The theme of the screening is also the subject of a panel debate, which is supported by Fritt Ord.
In Tippe tippe tue , a new family concert that sees the light of day during the festival, our district musicians bring out old nursery rhymes and rules and give them new life, says the festival director. He is pleased that the festival can convey an important part of our cultural heritage to new generations with such productions.
Sarah-Jane Summers and Juhani Silvola assemble a super orchestra in Førde .
Summers/Silvola and star-studded chamber orchestra
The critically acclaimed duo Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola gather a top team of Norwegian musicians from folk and classical music to perform exciting string arrangements of traditional music and new compositions. -It is fantastic to work with such a star-studded chamber orchestra, says the Scottish/Finnish duo. They have decided to record an album with the super orchestra they are gathering in Førde : Bjørn Kåre Odde, Lise Voldsdal, Olav Mjelva, Vegar Vårdal, Mari Giske, Kaja Fjellberg Pettersen, Ellen Brekken, Gregor Riddell, Kevin Henderson, Erlend Viken and Selma French Bolstad.
Irene Tillung with a new twist on Ten on the Roof
As planned, Irene Tillung & Ti på Taket were on their way to Førdefestivalen with the commissioned work they were supposed to have at Vossa Jazz. This of course couldn't be done when Vossa Jazz postponed its festival until the fall, but what can be done when Tillung and her musicians suggest doing something else they've always wanted to do, namely playing more folk music? - The result is the concert Trad with Ti på Taket, where Irene Tillung and the other musicians in her dream ensemble have arranged traditional material for their own use. A kind of volunteer work, simply put, says a satisfied festival director.
Just as Ti på Taket is a dream project for Tillung, the Norwegian World Music Orchestra, or NOWOR, is Javid Afsari Rad 's dream. In 2017, he brought together musicians he has played with over the years into one orchestra, and in July they will play at Førdefestivalen for the first time.
Margit Myhr in SVIV. Photo: Thor Hauknes.
Old and new favorites
Margit Myhr presents the beautiful dance performance SVIV, where she explores the swing in Norwegian folk dance. -It takes place to live music by and with Erlend Apneseth and Stephan Meidell, and with exciting use of video. This will be a great experience in the intimate Teatersalen in Førdehuset , believes Almås. Also on the program is FRIKAR 's Skaut performance, where choreographer Hallgrim Hansegård and five co-creative dancers focus on the themes of covering, uncovering and controlling the body. The women both tighten up and let down their hair through bound contemporary dance and free folk dance.
UTLA with Terje Isungset, Karl Seglem and Håkon Høgemo were early pioneers in combining folk music, jazz and improvisation. This year they will be performing at the festival's most spectacular arena, on Hafstadfjellet, 706 m above sea level. -The festival is also very pleased that the popular folk music trio Tindra agreed to reunite in Førde , six years after they actually broke up, says Almås. Tindra has given the audience in Førde many highlights, and now the table is set for even more.
You will meet Alexander Aga Røynstrand in one of several Tett-på concerts with great soloists. Photo: Knut Utler
Strong solo tradition
Førdefestivalen also wants to bring out the strong solo tradition in folk music, and even though it may seem unmusical in these corona times, they have challenged several great musicians to 40-minute 'close-up' concerts in the new cultural school in Sunnfjord. -Here the audience will meet Håkon Høgemo, Alexander Aga Røynstrand, Camilla Granlien, Steinar Ofsdal, Jovan Pavlovic, Harpreet & Sanskriti and Øyvind Brabant.
MISS TATI'S ANGOLA70 is coming Førdefestivalen
The taste of the world
According to the festival director, there are a lot of good musicians in this country. They come from all over the world, and play most styles and genres. The good news is that this year many of them will be heard in Førde . -The audience will really get a taste of the world these days, he says and lists: Miss Tati comes with her latest project, ANGOLA70, and Busi Ncube and her band come with warming rhythms from Zimbabwe. When Meelodi, led by Ole André Farstad, Iranian Medi Farmani and Syrian Nawar Alndaffad, plays in the Teatersalen, you will think they come from anywhere but Bergen. When Anders Lillebo Trio, with Kevin Henderson and Ronny Kjøsen, plays in the park, you will think they come straight from one of the islands far, far west in the ocean, while Kajsa Balto's yoik will lure you to the Finnmarksvidda plateau. When Mambo Compañeros starts their Cuban and Caribbean rhythms on Wednesday evening at Larris Scene, most people will have difficulty just dancing inside. -And so we can go on. This year's festival program reflects the solid musical diversity that exists in this country, and we are very excited to present all these great musicians in Førde , says a proud director.