Mira and Dipha Thiruchelvam lead the opening concert

Mira Thiruchelvam

Mira and Dipha Thiruchelvam are the conference hosts and Grunde Almeland, head of the Family and Culture Committee at the Storting, is responsible for the official opening of the festival.

The two Bergen sisters have had great success with the band 9 degrees north . Mira Thiruchelvam is both a musician and a composer, and as a producer she won the Edvard Prize in 2020, for Jaffna, the debut album of 9 degrees north. A little while ago she won the All Africa Music Awards in the category Best African Jazz of the Year with the song Deemi which she composed and produced for the artist Gutu Abera. She is currently on the big European tour of KARPE.

Dipha Thiruchelvam

Dipha Thiruchelvam combines flute playing at 9 Degrees North with a job as event and press manager at the contemporary art triennial Bergen Assembly, and a project manager for the festival Vill Vill Vest. - These are ladies with many irons in the fire, and we are really happy that they find time for conference-presenting assignments in between everything, says the director Sølvi Lien .

Official opening at Almeland

Grunde Almeland is coming Førde to be in charge of the official opening, and will also give the opening speech at Førdekonferansen – Dreams we pray for. Almeland is a politician in the Norwegian parliament, elected as leader of the Liberal Party's county branch in Oslo.

The large opening concert production is being directed by Andreas Ljones, who is the daily producer at Riksscenen in Oslo.